Here is a unique contribution to the field of poetry: a new collection of works by America's foremost Buddhist meditation master, Chogyam Trungpa. These poems and songs -- most of which were written since his arrival in the United States in 1970 -- combine a background in classical Tibetan poetry with Trungpa's intuitive insight into the spirit of America, a spirit that is powerfully evoked in his use of colloquial metaphor and contemporary imagery.

Most of the poems were originally written in English -- clearly the result of the author's own perceptions of new forms and media offered to...