Of Mortality a Music, by Julie K. Shavin. This is a collection of poems (and some proems), mainly spanning the last five years, and includes the poet's cover art, front and back. Also included are forty-four de-saturated original artworks and digitally-enhanced photographs. The volume ponders human relationships, our relationships to non-human animals, addressing sense of place, religion, politics, illness, loss, love, domestic violence, freedom, societal mores, redemption, suffering, perseverance, joy, the writing process itself, and more. There is much melancholy, even bitterness here, but such are offset by love, compassion, celebration, and also humor, the last of these, at times, wicked, at others, downright silly. The author does not play well with others, in the sense that she will not compromise her vision of the world. She is a an extreme lover of language -- her work is lyrical, musical -- and this single volume might just speak volumes, which means she could stop writing, a fortuitous thing - or not - depending on the reader. A portion of all proceeds from any of Shavin's arts pursuits (writing, music, visual art) is always donated to organizations working to end animal abuse.