Water is contained in these poems in many different ways: from the water filling a second-hand cooler in an old farmhouse to ocean riptides and impassive dams; from swimming lessons to paddocks layered with water after rain. From scheme water, pipelines and a countryside in the grip of drought – the water in this collection is a many-sided metaphor. Tracy Ryan’s latest collection of poems is full of intimate intensity and clear vision, each poem wrought with consummate skill by ‘one of Australia’s most gifted poets’ (Marion May Campbell).