Synchronized Swimming

Stephen Corey's carefully observed poems range in subject matter from the trivial ("The Uselessness of American Counties") to the mysterious ("Agnostic") to the resigned ("Divorce"). A thread runs through them all, though, a controlling intelligence and a subtle compassion that makes them of a piece in the way of William Stafford's best writing. "Hearing with My Son," about a child's struggle with autism, is stunning, and "The Invention of the Villanelle" will leave you muttering to yourself for days.