In "The Chain", Sleigh explores the nature of memory and its ability to recast events in contradictory ways as it links individual lives to history. The book takes the form of a series of elegies, portraits and love poems.

AcknowledgmentsInvocation Lamentation on Ur The Word The Tank Child's Drawing: "Boy Holding a Ball at a Funeral" In the ParkThe Safety of SundayUnder the Mountain The Line Song Crossing the Border The Denial Terminus The AppointmentThe Death Radio Great Island The Dolphin's Dream For a Young Painter The Octopus The Library Shame A Western Eclipse The Perspective Some Larger MotionThe Canoe The Climb The Distance Between The Web The Work The Souls