Weaving together autobiography, historical narrative, postcolonial voices, and a deeply sensuous ecology of place, this bold and ambitious collection of poems explores four phases of life: childhood; adolescence and young manhood; maturity, and old age. Within each section an intersecting narrative sequence complements, expands, and runs counter to the main voice, creating acomplexweb of interconnectingthemes that stretch throughout the entire work. Moving from thesearch for the fantasticEl Dorado to the celebration of thepowerful rivers of Guyana, these poems explore guilt, sexuality, identity, and independence in life and politics."