In THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW, Thomas R. Smith embraces and elaborates the hope for a better future, against the backdrop of turbulent times. His long-standing fascination with form leads to surprising, fertile juxtapositions of blues, ghazals, and Nerudean "elemental odes," reflecting not only the complexity of a multicultural America but a reverence for literary and artistic forebears as various as John Clare and Mississippi John Hurt. THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW finds him writing at the height of his powers, bringing the world's abundance within his poems' vibrant circumference.