The newest effort by the former poet laureate feels a bit weary, lacking in the clever, just right word that brought an “aha,” smile, or head shake in agreement to the reader. The final section contained a few such poems, especially a poem written as a gift for a friend hosting a beach weekend (“Bread and Butter”) or one about Aaron Copland ostensibly working his way north from Brooklyn to Terrytown which tells each of us how small, finite, and limited our time and accomplishments are in our lifetime. Favorite—”Returning the Pencil to Its Tray,” about living rather than writing about the world. The question is, Is Mr. Collins aging?