Keegan's crisp, direct poems let us feel both life's complexity and its simplicity. His tone spans the range from whimsy to tragedy. Nature awakens one's soul here, as a presence embracing or ominous by turns, especially in the vast ocean and the safe shore. Poignant intimate relationships strike the heart, as they are possessed or missed or yearned for. In a few poems, God is encountered up close but more often goes wrenchingly absent. Even animals communicate secrets and warnings by their subtle movements and sly glances. Keegan embeds these themes in personal experiences but creates verses...