Deena Linett uses language like a dancer uses limbs, each gesture deliberate and expressive. Often set within the rocky natural landscapes of England and Scotland, Linett’s poems allow small decisions the same relentless power as the forces of nature. The centerpiece of Woman Crossing a Field is a triptych, “Altarpiece,” 15 poems which function as landscape paintings do, suggesting the larger flow of life as well as details of our time and place.Deena Linett teaches at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She has published short fiction, nonfiction, two prize-winning novels, and the poetry collection, Rare Earths (BOA, 2001).