Like the colonial-era document and the small New England city from which it draws its title, The Holyoke Diaries is a microcosm haunted by the past and driven by dreams and desires. It bristles with the innocent cruelty of childhood, the self-conscious sexuality of adolescence, and the responsibility of adulthood and parenthood. These are poems that explore the ways men and women give meaning to the places they inhabit: the evasions, hallucinations and appreciations, the building up and tearing down, combining elements both lyrical and narrative, using the power of language so that readers might experience times and places and struggles for meaning that might otherwise be lost in the swirl of history.