"Theodore Roethke died in 1963, leaving behind 277 spiral notebooks filled with poetry fragments, aphorisms, jokes, memos, journal entries, random phrases, bits of dialogue, quotes from other writers, commentary, and fugitive miscellany. Within these notebooks the Pulitzer prize-winner allowed his mind to rove freely, to play, plan, and experiment while moving from the practical to the transcendental, from the halting to the sublime. His friend, [fellow poet, and colleague] David Wagoner chose just twelve of these notebooks and distilled them into an energetic, wise, and rollicking collection that shows Roethke to be a truly phenomenal creative source in American poetry."--Back cover.