Ask a glass of water why it pities the rain. Ask the lunatic yard dog why it tolerates the leash.

One of Still Lifes many achievements is its paradoxical mix of intensity and stillness. Alexander Longs visions of landscape, identity and History itself, a joke that no one gets are simultaneously meditative and alert, restless and focused. This is a smart, compassionate poet. Still Life is a mesmerizing new book.

Look, the world is everywhere: satellites, end tables, the pink and white poinsettias outside the church reunions and degrees. All those radiant asterisks . . . Soon it will all make sense.