These poems, written from 1955 to 2014, are a reflection on the period by someone who lived through it and, of course, aged in the process. Various world tragedies knocked the poetry out of him a time or two. He says: Somewhere between 1955 and 2000 humanity took a further seriously wrong turning. The twenty-fi rst century started in farce that gave unlimited power to people intent on mass murder. We let it happen. Poetry was once the great harbinger of understanding and poets were once listened to because they had something important to say.