Hahn s new collection wrestles with the elemental and enduring challenges of the human condition: What can we use from our spiritual heritage? How should we find relief? How, after it all, do we live? The poems are presented as a letter to the world from a woman preparing to leave it. In four sections The Bells, The Crosses, Widdershins, and Afterwor(l)d she contrasts the hope against the dark that is embodied by an amulet or cross with the abased resignation of torture, failed prayers, and witchcraft. Though Hahn s vision is a dark one, its dramatic emotional depth speaks to a human power that, though damaged, can still engage.