In the Ohio valley of West Virginia and Ohio life is often defined by death. Tug boats shove coal and chemicals from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati and back again on the Ohio River, the third most polluted river in the U.S. The water is dark and poisonous, a kind of Styx. Here, a thing is known by its opposite. The river reflects cloudiness and blueness, but implies the earth through which it runs. In sunlight, the valley can be one of the most verdant areas of the country. These poems are shades of that light and darkness. They portray life flowing into death, and death ultimately coming to the river.