The poems and prose of Calliope explore universal themes with grace, evocative imagery, poignancy, and humor. In "Waitress," an overqualified young woman feels out of place in the restaurant where her mother worked for several summers. A grade-school foe displays her invincibility in "Playground: 1965." In "A Lesson from Picasso," tourists are transfixed by Guernica, and pulled into war's horror. A family buries their beloved mother in "As If We Were Ancient Egyptians." In a humorous piece, "The Pharmacy,"a quick tour of the drugstore reveals products for all of life's ages and stages. A...