Across seven self- contained but interlinked themes of poetry Drought confronts the stark reality of life and loss - youth, regret, sadness, recuperation, hope, redemption of a kind, and peace, where landscape reflects an initial spiritual desert and mirage but fulfilment. While traversing the contemporary American and universal western experience from childhood, eras of change, and the industrial state, the reconciliation in love brims throughout. The poet's dialectic emerges from an observed world where a last sigh can be 'relief' or where 'things that outlived their use' can be 'resurrected in another form' and 'everyone has a shelf life' yet co-existence occurs as the 'Present and future' (are) 'Under one, sturdy roof'. The self and the general are underwritten in a handshake of recognition, where no matter the obstacle, the 'art of mending' prevails over all, in an ultimate invitation to love, what, where, and how we can. - James Walton's fifth book of poetry, Snail Mail Cursive was published by Ginninderra Press in 2023. He has been nominated and shortlisted in many prestigious organizations and been published worldwide. James resides in Wonthaggi, Australia.