Karma, " writes Tom Clark, "simply means that you don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Existence--a.k.a. "getting through to tomorrow"--simply means "that your left hand wouldn't want to know anyway." Cracked consciousness vs. the crazy subconscious, fractured karma vs. our chipped, sad, shopworn existence--these are the dynamics underlying this rich and varied collection of lyricsHere are light-hearted nature poems chronicling a Pacific Coast cold snap, affectionate satires of the California brand of Zen Buddhism, and, in a pronounced shift of tone, a series of moving elegies for Robert Duncan, Delmore Schwartz, Hart Crane, and Jean Genet. Best of all, here is one of Clark's matchless biographies in verse: a short double life of English music-hall great George Formby, master of the ukulele and the double-entendre, and the onetime professional clog-dancer Beryl Ingham, Formby's wife, agent, manager, muse, and tight-fisted Colonel Parker.