The Angel of Imagination gave everything to Andrew Merton. His poems are inventive and spry and unpredictable. And despite the sobriety implied by the book's title, Final Exam, Merton's third collection, is more concerned with comedy than curricula. Echoing the work of Kenneth Koch, Billy Collins and Albert Goldbarth, here comes another poet primed to tickle and provoke. Simultaneously wise and hilarious, Merton somehow plumbs issues like depression, self-loathing, regret, grief and finds its funny lining. With plainspoken lyrics and huge sense of humor, Merton allows us to pass his Final Exam on the playground of language. --Julia Shipley