Carousel
At times satirical, ironic and tenderly sincere, this collection charts the wandering course of faith by examining the death records of a diverse cast of characters. Presented as eulogies, elegies, obituaries, and panegyrics, these poems explore the cyclical nature of belief and loss, living and rebirth, with lyrical regret and narrative celebratio …
Glimpse
Glimpse is a book of 409 aphorisms, a form that straddles the line between poetry and philosophy, yet is likely more accessible to the general public than either. Each tiny, crafted piece is not simply a distilled poem or a pre- poem or a poem explained, but rather a crystallized poetic essence an attempt at getting closer to, and preserving, th …
The Cottage Builder's Letter
With The Cottage Builder’s Letter, gifted poet George Murray comes into his own with a new book of sumptuous lyrical narratives. He constructs his remarkable stories-in-song around challenges in the lives of people claiming their right to exist in a world seemingly set against them. Highly crafted, generous in tone, and always with a moral author …
The Hunter
Breathtaking new poetry by the author of The Cottage Builder’s Letter
In this brilliantly evoked new gathering of poems, George Murray creates a strange and menacing world, pulsating with sensory intensity. These poems don’t just inquire, they demand answers, and go seeking them through the realms of the past, the present, and the future. Here …
WOLF
The architect of the cottage on the hill
never took into account
its foundations. Having been paid
for a hasty erection, he forgot what damage
the ages might do
to a dwelling built in a passion for ease.
It’s not the noise of the city that distracts,
it’s the narrative.
It’s the urge to pluck order, a through-line,
purpose, from the seeming chaos. It’s the need
to make sense from nonsense
that occupies waking moments and coaxes
inactivity from accomplishment.
O for a pair of red eyes
in the woods. What should we fear
in an age that has killed emergency,
when stakes of destruction
have been jacked so high no one
can match the ante? The kindness
in the eyes of the dog
is not the opposite of the malice
dripping from the wolf’s maw. For now
we must share these shadows
with the dark, for it does not have its own.
For now we must go where they
do not want us.
For now we must explore.
The Rush to Here
Shortlisted for the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia Atlantic Poetry Prize
George Murray proves once again he is one of his generation's most accomplished poets with The Rush to Here. Diverging from the excess and declamation of his highly praised previous collection, The Hunter, Murray breaks new poetic ground in poems that are dangerous, sharp a …
Whiteout
Named after the surface condition in which no object casts a shadow, the horizon cannot be seen, and only dark objects are discernible, this collection of poems explores how accidental voyeurism can force reconsideration and reconciliation. The featured pieces delve into the concept of daily life’s heavy weather, illustrating how it establishes m …
