A heron slips along the shoreline as if on rice paper. Agreat angler, he will place a reflective object on the water'ssurface—a pin oak leaf, for example—and watch for a fishto investigate. The heron's patience, driven by necessity,far outstrips mine. Fifteen minutes in and I lower thebinoculars to look for other birds. Meanwhile, the greenheron waits, motionless, seemingly dispassionate, until afish is in range and he strikes. Is it hyperbo...

Suite for Three Voices is a dance of prose genres, teeming with intense human life in all its humor and sorrow. A son uncovers the horrors of his father’s wartime experience, a hitchhiker in a muumuu guards a mysterious parcel, a young man foresees his brother’s brush with death on September 11. A Victorian poetess encounters space aliens and digital archives, a runner hears the voice of a dead friend in the song of an indigo bunting, a teacher seeks wisdom from h...