Gold Friend

"At a time of environmental crisis, Gold Friend speaks powerfully of the ties that bind our living world. Chris Murrayilluminates the relationship between dependence and freedom, and meditates on the creative necessity for closeobservation. These oblique poems can suddenly dazzle with their play of substance and light, as they move from thehidden intricacy of root systems to the beetle's reflective sheen. As well as bearing witness to the strange beauty of thenatural world, these innovative poems testify to the remarkable intensity of human perception. They deserve our closesattention." Lucy Collins“Murray’s poetics call for a bond between the eye and the imagination…the acute perceptiveness of Murray’s poetry, herempathetic and sensitive vision, is extended first to nature and then, very movingly, into a series of elegies.” Seán Hewitt, Irish Times"Chris Murray is making sense. In a world-defining time of environmental crisis, here is a poet writing about the microcosm of her life, a garden, a tree, birds, buttercups, breaking day, darkening dusk. She has the ability, the care with words tosurprise...they curl into their dreaming. They are so beautifully accomplished." Liam Murphy, Munster Express