The unifying themes of the collection are the human search for home, and the sense of striving which Sail finds in 'the bright attempt to build/the city's simulacrum into high air'. Its opening sequence is primarily a response to three unnamed English cities, but also takes in broader historical and geographical contexts. Also included are love poems and poems about family, friends, and landscapes. Building into Air adds to the achievement of his Out of Land: New & Selected Poems (1992).
