From the Backcover: In Finlay’s second collection of poetry, she asks what it means to let in the ghosts of the past. This is a fragile world, in which rivers overflow and fear can become paralyzing. But there is hope here, too, for the “lusty aria”of the newborn child, for “a look we might have missed, in a different room,” for the falling leaves that return to the ground, that recover us.
“Powerfully elemental in image and sound, particularly in the ghazal-like title sequence, this is a beautifully sombre and sensual reflection on the faithful failing of language.” – Jennifer Still, Winnipeg Free Press
Sample Poem, “Self-portrait as Someone You Might Like to Meet”
Because I like to arrange pills in patterns
before I take them.
Because there are no elephants here.
Because I’ve mentioned elephants.
I was broken — I’ll say it plain
and that’s what you’ll like,
the plainness, smooth
face, pop of blue in the eye.
I read ’til I was green again
(new and ill and envious).
It didn’t work but I kept going.
The words weren’t enough
and neither is this.
About Triny Finlay: Triny Finlay was born in Melbourne, Australia and grew up in Toronto. She is the author of Splitting Off (Nightwood, 2004), Histories Haunt Us (Nightwood, 2010), and the chapbook Phobic (Gaspereau, 2006). Her poetry has been anthologized in Breathing Fire 2: Canada’s New Poets, Qwerty Decade, and Gaspereau Gloriatur: Book of the Blessed Tenth Year; her writing has also appeared in various Canadian periodicals including ARC, Broken Pencil, Contemporary Verse 2, The Fiddlehead, The Globe and Mail,Grain, Other Voices, and University of Toronto Quarterly. She has studied at Mount Allison University, the University of New Brunswick, and the University of Toronto. She lives with her family in Fredericton, NB, where she teaches English and Creative Writing at the University of New Brunswick.
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