The Talisman, Gerry Eugene's second volume of selected poems, takes us once more to the forests and mountains of the West and to the plains and fields of the Midwest. Against this backdrop, we encounter images and situations that will long resonate in our minds.

The poems are a portal to a world of horses, childhood, cats, trout streams, friends, family, grief, planting and harvest, fear and courage, addiction and triumph, love and passion, wild nights, growing up and growing old.

Eugene's poems celebrate the particularity of image and the musicality of language. The pieces in this book span fifty years, and Eugene presents his vision in traditional and nontraditional forms and styles.