The poetry in Balancing the Elements delicately intertwines encounters between nature, myth and homo sapiens: seal, Selkie and poet meet "in shared space"; the albatross "accepts our peace offering" in a glittering bay. The collection is full of awe, placing the human being as a bystander in nature, absorbing its messages, histories and mysterious workings: the tides, the seasons, the interdependence of animal and plant, tree and light are all here.