Journeyman's Wages

Probing work and family life, Starck displays a deep respect for mundane and, seemingly, randomly chosen, subjects: workboots, archery, a car engine, cutting grass. In the 11 lines of ``Railroad Crossing'' he moves one through 20 years with swift, sure-handed sketching. The ironic ``Ammo Ship'' considers the carriage of two diverse cargoes (asphalt and bombs) in an authoritative voice: the bombs, having shifted ``in their fragile wooden crates/tossed about like restless sleepers,'' require the seamen to enter the hold to secure them, and Starck renders the scene and mood with deft economy. While he and his children cut the grass in an overgrown yard, ``a single yellowjacket mirrors/ what's left of the sun.'' Elsewhere a search for a shock absorber bracket for his pickup truck becomes a litany of frustration and, finally, accomplishment. (May)