In a series of meditations inspired by the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris over four seasons, The Park asks its readers to consider what role exclusion-and what role tenderness-play in our sense of public space. The beauty of our natural world is fenced, and its access policed. Who is invited in, and who left out? Drawing on history and everyday life, at once personal and philosophical, John Freeman shows a keen understanding of human relationships as they are shaped by our environments and shape them as well. His poems explore the agitating textures of modern life: terror and joy exist side by side as the park becomes a microcosm of our larger cultural moment. Freeman is a wonderfully understated poet, employing precision of language whether in praise or reproach, and presenting our most urgent moral questions with patience and a steady hand. Book jacket.