The poems in Jean Stevens' collection are reflections on our relationship with the earth. They express delight in nature but also lament its loss in the uncertain times in which we live. There is a longing for more connection: that night in my cage of sleep I dreamt of hares in the wild; and a wish to explore the edgelands between the wild and the tame: something unknown is there in the space. Other poems express a foreboding that is at times apocalyptic: for three days now there have been no birds. Sometimes the tone is biblical: a voice came out of the mountain. A child's innocence throws out a lifeline of hope: Maddie's in touch with the earth, Maddie is running free. A timely plea for us all to speak to the earth.