A Circus of Want: Poems

``Angel,'' a poem about an armless man who circumvents his limitations, prefaces this stunning debut collection in which men and women strive in vain toward goals that other people take for granted. ``We're drinking / like this because we want a child and we can't / have one. . . . Most nights / it's easy to feel inadequate, slightly broken / thinking of the good or even the bad parent / you'll never have the chance to be,'' the next poem begins. By vividly contrasting his own hardship with that of friends and strangers, Stein lets his anguish move beyond the personal; a subtle backdrop of Catholicism adds an ironic note. Enlarging upon the angel image with which the book began, many pieces are concerned with falling--the neighbor's son who falls from a tree, an uncle falling off a ladder, a newspaper story about a girl who fell 19 stories and lived. No subject is taboo or profane for Stein; he even transforms a story about a girl whose hand has been amputated into a sensitive love poem. Stanzas of uniform length provide a check for emotion, and if stanza breaks appear awkward as a result, it's a small price to pay. (Sept.)