"The Washington Post Book World" has written that, "C. Dale Young straddles the realm of science and the world of emotion." Employing the careful emotion of Constantine Cavafy and the realism lying beneath Oscar Wilde's comic epigrams, he has crafted a contemplative book of poems both wise and willing to learn. Drawing on traditional forms including the villanelle and pantoum, and writing with an ear for a beautiful, resounding rhythm, C. Dale Young investigates the lessons of the trainee doctor and documents the experiences of the practicing physician, remarking on the ways medicine alone is not enough: "Do not let a man abandon hope," says Saint Luke. And, as with the remarkable long sequence, "Triptych at the Edge of Sight," these are also poems of intimacy, depicting with rich color and poignant contemplation the way art struggles to "capture [...] on canvas. Memory, do not fail me. Let me try again."
