GETTING USED TO THE DARK

Swanson debuts with a brief but consistently high-quality gathering of unrhymed observations and meditations about sleep, dreams, night, nature, family, and other topics. The language is simple but sonorous (``Where is it going, the train on the bridge?/And the wail of the whistle?'') and displays a fondness for unexpected metaphor—night is a running girl, for example- -plus an ability to create whole stories in a few lines. ``Karla's Worries'' keep her awake, while another child's dark mood changes as he helps his grandmother make french toast (``Nick and the Stale Bread''); ``Joanie Ice-skating After Dark'' finds a world of adventure, as does ``Ben Under The Blanket.'' Catalanotto's shadowy, soft-edged pictures are all details of a wreath-shaped pencil dreamscape reproduced at the end. A promising collection, evocatively illustrated. (Poetry. 8-14)