Tom Crawford combines the spirituality of the East with his own American working class pragmatism. The poems in The Temple on Monday explore the people, culture, and landscape of Korea through the emotional lens of a compassionate expatriate who gives voice to the mystery and wonder underlying everyday life. Crawford is able to find beauty in a traffic accident, and he can discover the story of a nation in a pair of abandoned shoes. Lyrical at times, he writes in a tone of quiet authority, and his verse is as unhurried as a light snowfall in Kwanju or the waters of the Bean-Paste River. Tom Crawford's three previous collections of poems include If It Weren't for Trees, China Dancing, and Lauds, which won the Oregon book Award in 1994. He has lectured and taught at colleges and universities throughout the western United States, the Peoples Republic of China, and Chonnam National University, Korea. He now lives in Portland, Oregon.