Poetry has always been in the Kazakh blood, and Galym Mutanov is one of the newly independent nation's leading poets, a shining light in the Kazakh literary world. In the range of his poetry, Mutanov truly captures the essence of the Kazakh spirit - from the tough and ageless traditions of the wild steppe to moments of tender intimacy. The measured Islamic wisdom and deep sense of morality so intrinsic to Kazakh life of old shines through in verse after verse.The figure of Abai, the 19th cent...