Ultimately a book about ageing and the consideration of death, this collection moves from the warm valley winds of Hawai'i to the seasons of a garden in Auckland. In Hawai'i Wendt watches the changing shadows of the Ko'olau mountains from his verandah, considers the nature of mauli, the seat of life, walks protected in his partner's perfumed slipstream to work, and writes to fellow poet Hone Tuwhare from the excesses of Las Vegas. In the second half of the book we move to the garden in Ponsonby in 40 vivid 'garden' poems that are the triumph of the collection.