LINDA PRINCIPE IS AN OLD-FASHIONED POET in one profound way: Uncommonly, she resists the temptation to write anything unless she has something to say-and this latest collection demonstrates what can be achieved by that standard.

Here are poems to live with. They resonate with insights gained and lessons learned in honest encounters with the truer sides of this fleeting existence of ours-with love, friendship, and death in all their varied appearance.

They are poems that glow with the smooth glow of sea-glass. For readers who have come to know Ms. Principe's work, this volume will be a treasure.

And if you have never read her, the uncanny feel she has for the poetry in the very ordinary moments all of us share with her will offer you solace and joy, the lilt of humor and the plain unvarnished truth. They will ease your burdens and bathe you in reviving light.