There Was Fire in Vancouver, Sinead Morrissey's first book, is organised around journeys: from communism to spiritual affirmation; from life in Ireland to life abroad, and return; and from the secure dependence on given structures - the family in particular - to independence and security in the self. The book opens with poems of childhood and communist upbringing. There are others about death; about love, its loss and the disorientation that ensues; and a number which deal with angels and the implications of religious faith.