In this beautiful and raw debut collection, Denton Loving offers us poetry of the earth, of history, of the natural world’s rawness that both sears and warms as it flows. It’s difficult to be both solid and ephemeral, but Loving manages to walk both deliberately and carefully through his lived or imagined mire with elegance and ease. He has mastered the art (and placement) of the question in his work. Crimes Against Birds is a gorgeous collection of both brutal and beautiful poetry. Loving is artful in his questions, altruistic in his leavings, and open and generous in his expression. He leaves us, quite perfectly, satisfied and starving for more.