A distinctive volume of poetry by a talented poet and highly acclaimed translator.

Although the themes and ideas explored are mostly personal, De Kock's voice ensures a universal resonance in his poetry.

The poet Cas Vos has already established a reputation with his previous collections of love poetry. In Intimately Absent he once again touches on the themes of love and loss.

In this remarkable collection, beautifully translated by Leon de Kock, he depicts the gripping tale of the doomed medieval lovers, the philosopher Peter Abelard and the nun Heloise, by way of a dialogue. The poems are based on the actual letters they wrote each other after they were so cruelly separated. In this dialogue the poet succeeds in making their longing for each other very real.

The series is concluded with poems that give voice to their child, Astralabe. In these he tells of his yearning for the parents he never knew. In the last section the sombre shadow of death comes to the fore, but even here love tempers all.

The poet Cas Vos has already established a reputation with his previous collections of love poetry. In Intimately absent he touched on the themes of love and loss. In this collection, of his poems are fed from ancient times, the religious as well as the mythological, but also at the same time reaching out to the modern era. The poet searches for new links, connecting with other times, other texts and other art forms. The poem is palimpsest where other times and texts are constantly evident, where nothing is final. He involves artists, artworks, ancient history, the mythology, eroticism and music. Opposite the powers of silence and death, he poses that of sound, language and music. The poems in Duskant die donker/Before it darkens are accessible and should be appreciated by a variety of readers.

Dream Word Tormented by a past of being bullied, a madman has learned the secrets of dreaming, and he is killing people through his dreams. He lives in a world that everybody visits in their sleep, but few understand like he does. The police department is faced with deaths that nobody can explain. Everybody thinks there must be some logical explanation, something reasonable behind the deaths. Everybody, that is, except Shelly Waterford, a young detective who listens to the witnesses and believes them, no matter how absurd their stories might sound. She seeks the help of the one man who might know something about dreams, a man with a dark past, a man who knows how to enter and control people's dreams. Andrew Shaw has recently been released from a ten year prison sentence. In prison, with a lot of time on his hands, he had taught himself the secrets of dreaming, and it's to him that Shelly turns to teach her about dreaming. She teaches him how to be human again, and how to love. He teaches her everything he knows about the Dream World, and shows her what she will need to track down the killer. But this killer is not beaten that easily. He has a lifetime of dream experience behind him, and his hatred of humanity has driven him over the edge. Enter the dark dream world, a world where few know and understand the rules. In here, you are either one of the strong dreamers, or you are in their power.