Poetry. In one fell swoop, OLD MAN LAUGHING exposes the incredible and the ordinary with tenderness. Knots, herbs, blurred nymphs, a duck on the husk of a muskrat's den. King's nostalgia--never sentimental and at times bittersweet--beckons old songs and lovers to the fore, asking not for remorse, but instead for giving due the wonder of childhood and the exquisite ties we make to people as years pass. In this world, the civilized and the natural shape us imperceptibly, and in King's view, a sanguine perspective is the reward. "I thought old men would know more about earth or love or mornings than I do, / standing at sunrise in my own backyard, / married for years, dazzled by my ignorance