Jack Foley wrote of the two poems in this book: "Their vast reach and their vast reading include the Classics and the realm of Pounds Cantos, where the dead and the living mingle. James Joyces "nighttown" is here as well, and we feel the constant presence of the authors identical twin, José (1939-2011). These poems are not for the faint of feeling or the faint of intellect, but they are for those who value poetry, literature, the world." He illustrates his point with these four lines from Ivans book: "women skilled in weaving and ornamentation you shall have/ to accompany you to the other earth and to hold in your hand/ a distaff and by your side a harp to sing the lonely nights/ in the labyrinth of sleep..."