In A Hundred Birds, his poignant new collection of poems, Matthew Thorburn explores the worries and wonders that make up the middle of life. Caught in the in-between, these are poems that look in two directions: at the poet's son growing up too quickly; and at his parents growing older so swiftly, and his father dying. With his characteristic love of life's particulars, Thorburn honors both the fading past and the fleeting present through his clear-eyed focus on what we hold tight, and how our memories bind us to those we love and make us who we are.