"The poetry of Michael Ondaatje begins in memory: distant landscapes, myths from childhood, fleeting interactions with loved ones, and characters from history itself. In poems that are spare as often as they are fable-like-as tender as they are heart-wrenching-the poet navigates the past, looks toward the future, and unearths inevitable truths about the world. Assembling Michael Ondaatje's finest poems in one brilliant volume, Selected Poems chronicles the poet's journey-moving book to book, moment to moment, border to border-and leads the reader through the threshold of discovery itself. The Distance of a Shout is a profound and gorgeous collection by an indispensable poet of our time, and proof of why miraculous poetry endures"--