Open Slowly

by Dayle Furlong

Young lovers tangle, tumble, and dance their way through the urban landscape of the poems in this collection. They lose and rediscover each other in cafés and bars, over latte or beer, while the city watches and waits for solitude to reassert itself. The three sections of the collection, "Impossible Permanence," "Tonic & Brevity," and "Litany of Desire," allude to the darker undercurrent that adds the taint of reality to these poems of spring and beauty. As the poet suggests with her title, the book is one to be opened slowly, savored like a surprise gift from a lover who will inevitably be forgotten, even while the gift remains.

77 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Dayle Furlong has a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh. She was shortlisted for december Magazine's 2018 Curt Johnson Memorial Prose Award in the USA. Her stories have been published in Canada, the US and New Zealand. She currently works as a mentor in the Creative Writing Department at University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies.

Reviews

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Open Slowly by Dayle Furlong begins with poems steeped in Spring imagery and the unfolding blossoms of that season. For instance, “She Seeks Beauty” is like a flower beginning as a bulb, growing, and releasing the beauty of its petals like a surprise ending.

However, there seems to be a sinister undercurrent or a blatant dark side that emerges in some of these poems, illuminating the truth that nature is not all beauty and peace, but also darkness and violence. Furlong’s lines are not abstract mysteries, but the poems as a whole reveal a mystery or hidden truth that causes readers to rethink their initial impressions at the beginning of the poems. In a way many of these poems discuss the impermanence of memory and the past, those people, places, and events that we think we will always remember, but that grow fuzzier with time and blur into nothingness.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2011/02/o...

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never been any good at intellectually dissecting poetry. I can't discuss rhythm, form, or meter; I just know what I like when I hear it. I love to read poetry aloud, and in Open Slowly, the words are simple, sensual, and beautiful. I have no idea what Furlong's inspiration was for these poems or what she wanted readers to take from her words, but I had no problem coming up with my own interpretation. Open Slowly is contemporary poetry at its finest, accessible to the average reader while still providing much to ponder.

Read the full review on Diary of an Eccentric.