The title of this book is intended to reflect its nature, for much of the poetry is permeated with the darkness of suffering humanity, of physical pain and mental anguish, bereavement, the infinite pathos in the death of innocent and helpless animals, the blackness of hell, Gallipoli and the apocalypse. But there is light in the darkness of these pages too. Here you will find the irrepressible bonhomie of the Labrador retriever, the bustling self-importance of the penguin, the proud self-serving intractability of the cat, the joke that is so much modern art and music. There is much to sadden us in the world today but so much to laugh at too. The poetry of Peter Hartley sings of life and death, love and grief, art and music, dogs and penguins, crosswords & puns, of Alpine peaks and Scottish islands, of bishops and delinquents. There is wit, there is pathos, and, if the reader is bold enough to search for it, there is truth and beauty to be found on every page. Peter Hartley's poetry reflects his career as a restorer of 16th to 20th century art, and a world traveller who has visited all seven continents at least twice. He has trekked and climbed on six of them, making ascents of more than twenty peaks in the European Alps. He is the survivor of a three-thousand foot freak fall in a descent from Mount Fuji in winter conditions. He is a cryptic crossword enthusiast, a man as familiar with grief as he is with love. He was born in Liverpool, England, and lives in Manchester.