Ultimately a book about ageing and the consideration of death, this collection moves from the warm valley winds of Hawai'i to the seasons of a garden in Auckland. In Hawai'i Wendt watches the changing shadows of the Ko'olau mountains from his verandah; considers the nature of mauli, the seat of life; walks protected in his partner's perfumed slipstream to work; and writes to fellow poet Hone Tuwhare from the excesses of Las Vegas. In the second half of the book we move to the garden in Ponsonby in 40 vivid 'garden' poems that are the triumph of the collection.

Albert Wendt is an emeritus professor of English at the University of Auckland. He has been an influential figure in the developments that have shaped Pacific literature since the 1970s and was made Companion of the Order of New Zealand in 2001 for his services to literature. He is the author of The Adventures of Vela--winner of the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize--Pouliuli, and Sons for the Return Home.