I wanted to enjoy this as much as I liked Different Hours, but this collection was comparatively disappointing. The poems, filled with vague paradoxes and reaching metaphors that just didn't come together, didn't grab my attention. And, while I don't mind ordinary topics and everyday subject matter, Dunn, rather than elevate these snapshots of everyday life with his linguistic and artistic skill, almost seems to suggest a push toward settling for mediocrity that just didn't sit right with me. Definitely stick with Different Hours over Lines of Defense, whether you've read the former already or not.

Okay. The words flow smoothly, but the content is not meaningful to me.

Perhaps not quite as engaging as 2013's Here and Now, but Dunn remains as thought-provoking as ever. Marriage, old and new, remains a muse for him in poems like "Anniversary Poem" (obviously) and "For My Son." Death also looms in Dunn's mind throughout the collection. Thankfully, Dunn is also concerned with other issues beyond love and death. As he insists at the end of Lines of Defense's final poem: "I love the truth, / I swear I do."

Highlights
"The Country of the Next Thing"
"Now, Finally"
"Anniversary Poem"
"Formalities for the Long Road"
"The Little Details"
"Those Without Final Residence"
"Pedagogical"
"For My Son"
"A Coldness"
"Letter to the Man I Once Was"
"The Widening"
"The Obvious"
"Ache"
"For the Player"
"The Statue of Responsibility"