From Publishers Weekly Forever searching， observing and analyzing， Danon yearns for knowledge of other life forms， throughout geologic time， as a way of putting her own contemporary human existence into perspective. In "The First Subject Matter for Painting Was Animal，" the poet attempts to understand the vicissitudes of a romantic relationship by seeing herself and her partner in relation to the "million species of animals. Each may have many / ceremonies. The ritual of begging is only one possibility. / Assimilation is another." Obsessed with time， Danon cannot hide her discontentment with the modern world: "I'd like to get over things， stop / Loving the past like some damn / European." Although the profundity of the poet's perceptions pk is aptly symbolized by the temporal scope of these poems， Danon's language， with its many references to geology and biology， tends to be cold and aloof. It is as if she needs the order and detachment that history provides to temper the potentially chaotic combination of imagination and emotion: "Invention is not enough. / There are facts / and you need to know them." This is Danon's first book of poetry. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.