A vivid autobiography, in verse, tracing poet Philip Daughtry's journey from a war-torn Northumbrian coal mining village to a Cree reserve in the Canadian North Woods as a child and young man, and onward to Greenwich Village in the late '50s. Heading west, Daughtry worked cattle ranches before hitching to San Francisco where he became active in the North Beach poetry scene. The writing captures moments from a peripatetic life: reflections on a rooster on Crete, and of acacia thorns in Africa, memories of difficult post war years in Britain that are among Daughtry's earliest memories, and verses on his eucalyptus- and oak-shaded later years in Topanga Canyon.

Born in Derwentwater, England, in 1942, Philip James Daughtry is widely anthologized, and his publications include The Stray Moon, Kid Nigredo, Magic Harness, Celtic Blood, The Centaur's Son, Night Ride with Dahlia and Runaway Angels. He lives in Topanga, California, with his wife, artist Rita George.

"Daughtry's poetry is sparse and thoughtful. Each word is carefully chosen, smooth and well rounded as a pebble shaped by the tide, tough and durable as an old root."
— Suzanne Guldimann