Nocturne: Poems of Love, Distance, and the Night, a callous and disinterested lover is a collection of Phil Slattery's poetry written from the mid-80's to mid-90's, a turbulent, fluid time in his life in many ways, but especially romantically. He has taken many of the poems written (many of which were published in various magazines) during those years and compiled them into a dark narrative capturing the emotional turmoil of an anonymous narrator who descends from romantic love for a woman into a lonely world of alcohol and night clubs, where his only love is the night that envelops him psychologically, emotionally, and physically. This is an emotional and psychological odyssey for the reader, exploring the bliss of love to the depths of despair and then to resignation to one's fate in an existential crisis. The anthology is lavishly illustrated with photos from the public domain that attempt to capture visually the essence of the poems they accompany.