Sergeant Dark

Henry Hughes’ fifth book of poems, Sergeant Dark, carries us to the edge of the war in Ukraine and deep into Antarctica. These poems take us out shark fishing and bird watching, and into the bar and bedroom. They offer honest, humorous and hard looks at everyday life—love, marriage, parenting, money, religion, sports and politics—celebrating the joys and admitting the failures. “Hughes’ poems are conscious of the destruction and ‘heady wastes’ we humans make,” writes Annie Lighthart, but “they will not let go of the truth at the other end of the line—that the world is still vividly living and vividly loved.”