The Bus to San Simón

Reviewing The Lost Body of Childhood, Dayton's previous book of poetry, the late poet and editor Patricia Wilcox wrote, "David Dayton has devised a lucid and serene mysticism of the real. Time and again in these poems he connects self, fellows, Earth, universe, past and present, employing a vigorous imagery, asserting a self of arresting wholeness that thinks, feels and risks knowing." In this second collection, Dayton has arranged 36 poems in four "playlists." The first, "Sorrows in Plain Sight," is a series of image-rich narrative poems about people facing hard times with stoic resolve, humorous good will, and sometimes sheer verve. The second playlist, "Ithaca, Town and Country," takes an upbeat turn in poems both lyrical and narrative that celebrate the poet's married life in the countryside near Ithaca, New York. The third playlist, "Fides Poetica," pays homage to revered fellow poets and includes poems to Dayton's parents and a beloved grandmother. Humorous and tender by turns, this sequence concludes with a Christmas meditation written shortly after John Lennon's death and dedicated to him. The final playlist, "There You Are," contains poems about Dayton's life in a village on the outskirts of Mexico City where both his children were born. The prevailing mood is gently wry and at times imbued with transcendent gratitude for the pluck, luck, and various loves (conjugal, filial, fatherly) that sustain him.