I bought a chocolate milk
and left, again looking up
for the wild creatures
surviving in their niche.

from Leaving North Dakota

The 'things' in the title of Alistair Elliot's new collection are the writer's back lane (a tempting distraction), a flag with medieval Syrian embroidery which the Queen of the Fairies gave to 'the'MacLeod, a radio which has provided news (or something) for six decades, posh flowers, and much else. As Elliot declares in a poem about a squashed bug in a book, one person's 'insignificant'can be right at the centre for someone, perhaps, everyone else.