Man living on a side creek and other poems

The poems in Man Living on a Side Creek and Other Poems are carefully wrought and passionate. Torre talks of life and work on the edge of wild lands and wrestles with the paradox of man's drive to change and overwhelm the very wilderness which gives him sanctuary and renews his spirit. Many of the poems have wilderness settings, from Flathead Lake in Montana to the south-central coast of California to the spruce forests and subsistence farms of the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia.

The poems are filled with images of manual work - axle grease and wood shavings, with the raw beauty of the mountains and with machinery rusting in abandoned fields. The poet brings to his subjects an understanding and lyric intensity which make these poems a delight to read