Of "Reasons for the Sky" Walter Hall wrote "Jim Hanson gives us the whole picture with a generosity of spirit that is rare indeed." This book continues the story with glimpses of nature and openness of feeling. Jim describes the light in Dallas: "Even when indirect, the light is stark, yellow, overwhelming, not the luminist atmosphere of a Midwestern town, or the cool blue brightness in a Manhattan canyon." These poems describe American landscapes clearly and sharply in an American voice.