This book is a collaboration between the Solomon Islands poet Celo Kulaghoe and his compatriot Frederick Butafa, who provides an illustration of traditional art for each poem. And I like the poems, I do, but I'm really fascinated by the art. It's black and white, highly patterned, and full of hidden detail (there's a short paragraph accompanying each piece pointing out those details and what they mean). My favourites were the pieces with fish and turtles worked into the wider image. It's really great work, and the synergy between prose and picture is just really effective.

Regarding the poems: they're gentle pieces, often focused on friends and family (especially Kulaghoe's wife and daughter) and how much the author loves them. That love often extends to place, as it does in the poem "Qalekana" (Guadalcanal), the poet's birthplace. I think that was the poem I liked best, but then I'm always fond of poetry that has a strong connection to place and environment. The other text-based piece that really interests me is the Poet's Note at the front of the book, wherein Kulaghoe talks about the importance of individuality: "The poems collected here are meant to be a monument to individuals and their thoughts. Whether culture carries us to utopian prosperity or suffers premature extinction is immaterial except for the benefits that individuals accrue while sojourning in society." Or so part of it goes. I'm all for individuality, but I will say it's nice to see it expressed in such a consistently loving way; all too often (in my culture, at least) individuality is too closely linked with competition instead of compassion. I think I like this way better.