Domesday Book

In this inventive verse collection the poet imagines a new kind of census, a modern Domesday Book that records not land but lives. The focus falls on Elenor Murray, a modest woman whose birth, loves, friendships, and sudden death become a prism through which countless other stories shine. Through the eyes of a coroner‑like narrator the work unfolds as a series of epitaphs, letters, and whispered recollections, each revealing how a single existence reverberates through a community.

The language is spare yet lyrical, moving between the intimate details of childhood and the broader sweep of American social history. As the poet traces the ripple effects of Murray’s passing, readers glimpse the hidden connections that bind strangers, the quiet heroism of everyday people, and the paradox of memory and loss. The result is a contemplative portrait that invites listeners to consider how every life, however humble, writes a chapter in the larger story of a nation.