Mike Bond’s collection of American poetry opens the reader to the wide-open nature of the mountainous North West. From the Native Americans to the ranchers, the region inspires the reader with rugged land and its wildlife. There is a primitive feel to the poetry that reflects the rustic nature of the land. It is the Great Spirit links people to the earth and the environment that science seems too refined and sterile for. It is the beat that mimics the human heart in the state of nature and also a reminder of how man has changed not only the landscape and the planet. The poetry is a symbol of beauty that reminds us to tread lightly on the earth much like its first inhabitants. A beautiful collection of poetry that will make the adult reader remember his childhood draw to the West.