The Canal Bed

Helena Minton, in her first full-length collection, takes us to such varied places as Shuyak Island, Alaska; Ossabaw Island, Georgia; and Lowell, Massachusetts. ...Minton is quite adept at exploring our relationships to nature and its inhabitants. In "On the Tundra," she writes, "Wind stripped us down/to our walking scent,/strong as the ocean's,/a texture to our flesh/only the bears' teeth could know." Overall, this is a fine, full-fledged beginning for an extremely gifted poet.