Eavan Boland, _Against Love Poetry_ ($21) Ms. Boland, ranked among the finest of contemporary Irish poets, has written here of "the contradictions of daily love" as only she can. Her poetic skill and her deep concern for social issues, particular those of gender, serve each other well. The first section of the book, a multi-part poem titled "Marriage," honors and explores her own 30-year relationship. The latter section, "Code," looks outward, often toward "the burden of history."

Brenda Hillman, _Cascadia_ ($12.95; $26) Due out in September, Ms. Hillman's sixth collection is further evidence of her intelligence and inventiveness. Readers who remember how alchemy dripped through her earlier work will see similarities in the silting and layering of geology in these poems. As the book's title suggests, Ms. Hillman is a poet of the West. It 's no small compliment to declare her its fitting innovative chronicler. A reminder, Brenda Hillman will be reading from Cascadia at the Northwest Bookfest on October 21.

Billy Collins, _Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems_ ($21.95) The book Collins fans have been waiting for is scheduled to arrive mid-September. Along with a generous sampling from his four previous collections, Sailing includes twenty new poems that exhibit his trademark contemplativeness, wit, and openness. Odds are, if you've been looking for "that poet who was on Garrison Keillor's show," this is your guy, and this book is the best introduction to him.

Euripides, _Cyclops_, translated by Heather McHugh; Sophocles, _Electra_, translated by Anne Carson ($10.95 each) These two recent renditions are part of the Greek Tragedy in New Translation Series, which was founded on the premise that poets can best re-create such classics. And what better poets for that mission than Ms. Carson and Ms. McHugh? Each clearly brings her particular talents to the task, making for vital poetry in English. As a plus, each volume contains the translator's forward, notes on the text, and a glossary.

Cid Corman, _The Despairs_ ($15) Mr. Corman, still working diligently from his home in Japan, here writes principally of the end of life - "The empty bottle / brings to every shore word / of what lies ahead." His spare, often wry poems are complemented by paintings by Seattle's own Alan Chong Lau.

Jonathan Safran Foer, editor, _A Convergence of Birds: Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by the Work of Joseph Cornell_ ($27.50) This book pays tribute to the power of artist Joseph Cornell's assemblages. Editor Foer asked a number of writers to respond to Cornell's work, and he received responses from John Yau, Martine Bellen, Robert Pinsky, Robert Coover, Joyce Carol Oates, Ann Lauterbach, and others. Color plates of Mr. Cornell's work are tipped in throughout, making this book a beauty and a bargain.

Bernadette Mayer, Lee Ann Brown, Jen Hofer, and Danika Dinsmore, _The 3:15 Experiment_ ($14) For years, these four women have written at 3:15 a.m. on agreed upon days, investigating "the ideas of ritual, of collective consciousness, of altered states, and of record." The selections from their experiment reveal what "3:15 mind" is like - intimate, playful, odd, unedited. Note: Danika Dinsmore is director of Seattle's Eleventh Hour Productions; Bernadette Mayer will read locally November 7 in the Subtext series.

_2002 Poet's Market_ ($24.99) You most likely know of this annual publication, and you perhaps love it. Here is a compendium of 1,800+ places to try to publish your poems. How to reach those places, what they're looking for, if they pay. that kind of information. It comes, of course, with no guarantees.

Charles Simic, _Night Picnic_ ($23) Another book due in the rich month of September. We haven't had a glimpse of this one yet, just this clue from one of the new poems, "What is beautiful is found accidentally and not sought after. What is beautiful is easily lost." Those of us long enamored of Mr. Simic's tight, often haunting and strange poems await eagerly.

Ronald Johnson, _The Shrubberies_ ($14) Editor Peter O'Leary has given us the gift of these final poems from Mr. Johnson, best known for his book-length poem, The Ark. Condensed and vegetal themselves, these pieces are "light put into words / like an iceberg / sunk unceasing sea."

Robert Hass and David Lehman, editors, _The Best American Poetry 2001_ ($16) The 14th edition of this series comes shaped by former poet laureate Hass. His selections include the well known (Adrienne Rich, Jorie Graham, Anne Carson, Galway Kinnell), the perhaps less well known (Dean Young, Rae Armantrout), and the dead (recently discovered poems by Elizabeth Bishop and James Schuyler). One of the several pleasures of these volumes is the prose - the introductory essays by the editors and the closing comments by the poets on their poems.

Hayden Carruth, _Doctor Jazz_ ($18) The venerable Carruth turns 80 this year, and Doctor Jazz is the collection of "a memorious old man." He is as curmudgeonly, passionate, and, yes, loving as ever. He writes honestly of struggle and loss, including the death of his daughter. He rails against injustice and sloppy thinking. He praises the beautiful in all its manifestations as only "a sad-assed heathenish Yankee" with a big heart can. This book is scheduled to arrive mid-September.

We're enjoying _Poetry Speaks_ ($49.95), a book with 3 compact discs of poets reading their own work, beginning with Tennyson and Robert Browning! W.B. Yeats discusses his reading style. Gertrude Stein reads each stop in "She Bowed to Her Brother." T.S. Eliot presents "Prufrock" with power (honestly). Robinson Jeffers jokes about his dark vision. The list is stunning - Theodore Roethke, Gwendolyn Brooks, Denise Levertov, Frank O' Hara, and it goes on from there. The hardcover book includes the poems read and others by the readers, a brief biography of each, and short appreciations of the poets by contemporary poets - Jorie Graham on Elizabeth Bishop, Michael Palmer on Robert Duncan, for instance. What a way to spend some fall evenings.

Campbell McGrath's sharp pencil turns to his home state in _Florida Poems_ (Ecco, $22.95). Who better to write of "the hairy stucco arms of Armed Response security," the Royal Palm Barbershop, or "this flower-drunk relic of the original garden."

Poet Linh Dinh has translated _Three Vietnamese Poets_ ($9), the latest fascinating publication from Tinfish Press. His informative essay introduces these poets, who, he declares, "in a less corrupt environment.would surely be seen as the best, and the most courageous, of their generation."

From Polish poet Adam Zagajewski comes _Without End: New and Selected Poems_ (FSG, $30), containing a generous collection of recent and older work, some formerly out of print. As he urges us to do, Zagajewski knows how to "praise the mutilated world."

_The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology_ (Interlink, $22), edited by Nathalie Handal, is "beautifully researched, translated, and compiled," writes Carolyn Forch. Representing 83 poets from 16 countries, this collection, its editor explains, reveals that "the literary landscape of Arab women poets.is one of abundance, diversity, and contrasts."

Once again, we were pleased to be introduced to a book by one of our savvy customers. How fun to peruse _A Book of Surrealist Games_ (Shambhala, $11.95). Created and played by Andr Breton, Paul Eluard, and their confreres, the games described in this little volume intrigue, provoke, and charm. Great illustrations, too.