Flowers, plants, and trees figure prominently in this poetry collection. They are emblems for human relationships and human emotional states: moss roses for the helplessness of women in the fifties, hydrangea for a hopeful bond between mother and daughter, irises for friendship and mourning the sudden death of a loved one, nasturtiums for our drowning in urban culture of the nineties, red geraniums for a cautioning not to waste your life and not to ignore your children, ferns (alongside rocks) for the urgency in life and love, mimulus for watching for hours and possibly coping with a chronic disease, deep red dahlias for anxiety about not being loved or seen, pines for loneliness and longing, inner leaves of romaine for the delicious but not very nourishing aspects of urban culture. As always, lighting is very important in these poems, as are birds, freedom, and hope.