In language at once bracingly direct and lyrical, these poems, which roam from the freest of free verse to traditional forms, fuse the creative heart and the keen critical intellect in a way reminiscent of D.H. Lawrence and Stanley Kunitz. Their themes range from the personal to the global. Classical motifs merge with modern mayhem, and the results are revelatory. At the centre of the book is the search for love in a world that degrades the notion daily. This rare book of poems will appeal equally to the scholar, the critic, the lover of poetry, and all students of the human heart. Florida poet and musician Hal Shows is a State of Florida Individual Artist Fellow and a member of the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. His latest recording, Native Dancer, issued in 2003. Parasol is his first full-length collection of poems (from the publisher's flyer)