In 2002 and 2005, Menard Press published "Then and Now - Words in the Dark" and "From Now to Then", as the first two books of a three-part work-in-progress. "Boccaccio in Florence and Other Poems" is a selection from the on-going third instalment, "Opus 3". It is also intended as a book in itself with a structure differing from "Opus 3" as a whole. Whereas the latter, when completed, will be arranged thematically in three parts, dealing with the emotional/physical, ethical and spiritual life respectively, the order of the poems in the selection is more or less chronological - from "Boccaccio and the Dance of Death" to the present day. This arrangement offers the reader a historical preview of the three fundamental components or concerns of human life on which "Opus 3" is based, while exemplifying the various sorts of poetry and prose to be found in it.
