Half-Open Door

Poetry. "[T]here's a working collie in (this poet) / who chases feet sound rhythm and form / and gladly burns in the fire and flow" aptly captures some of the dynamic in this astonishing collection. "[S]omeone said sadness / is the shadow of a cloud / another that there is more than sadness here / the sun itself has vanished" maps an empathic way of breaking into pain in Paris. In "the female deer have antlers" Finnegan asks "where does this stillness come from"--as you read the poems in HALF-OPEN DOOR, don't be surprised if an affirmative relation to being and to the world announces itself. "Set alongside pathways, rivers and through half-open doorways that invite active transformation, James Finnegan's debut collection maps metaphoric journeys of quest, loss of light, faith, identity and art. These poems... comment on each other and extend the metaphor of his half-open door as they traverse the today, yesterday and tomorrow of the poet's search for the meaning hidden in his multiple selves."--Deirdre Hines "[James Finnegan's] poems aredoorways into stillness, where the cut and thrust of the world is forced to withdraw, and time slows to a moment lit only by the keen and considered focus of the poet's eye... This is a stunning collection from a lyrical Irish heart, and a poet in full command and in full embrace of his art."--Dr. Liam Campbell