Night in the Garden is an expression of Diane Williams's fascination with the magic of the natural world and the contradictions of human life. Sensuality infuses flora, fauna, and minerals. Human relationships are tangled and provocative. The author also reveals her interest in theater of the absurd. Visualizing an illogical or bizarre scenario, she plays it out to its poetic conclusion. Her evolving poetic sensibility draws upon fantasy, dream imagery, irony, humor, and nostalgia. Williams's poetry stands where the absurdities of life meet its splendor.