In her second collection of poetry, Belle Waring draws on her experience as a neonatal intensive care nurse at Washington, DC hospitals. Described by Alice Fulton as "some scat-singing postmodern jazz canary," Waring employs diction that ranges from street-smart vernacular to French. Dark Blonde delivers the jazzy tenderness and attitude of her first collection, Refuge, but in these new poems, bravery outshines bravado.