Taking Eden, a debut collection of poetry, twists and extends familiar story lines, with references to Eve, God, Lazarus, and Lucifer. These are fairy tales for grown-ups, hybrids of parable and fantasy that fathom life by exploring its nether regions, addressing both the dead and the unborn. Clinton's observations "from the left edge of my left eye", become spellbinding incantations where time is marked by a clock that says "Sticks, sticks, /and hourly passes to say Stones, stones".