Observing the world the way a dog does - without judgement, just taking it all in. Okay, maybe a little judgement. But back to the dog. Having a dog grounds you. The dog needs to be walked. The dog needs to eat. The dog becomes ill and needs your care. And through it all, the dog's part of the bargain for all this attention is to simply be there. When you are tired or ill, discouraged or lonely. The dog, and the cats, fill the emptiness when you realize you have friends but no significant other; that your adult daughter is close to moving out and on; that really, the only creatures that will shortly need you are your pets. And what that says about you.

From light-hearted poems in which the dog slams into a llama, a Starbucks barista tells an unexpected joke, and the poet muses on the sticker on her banana, to the telling of dealing with chronic fatigue and a serious illness, we move from light to darkness to light, being urged to "Wear the orange dress / pick the tiger lily / bright world awaits / no hoping / just take it."

Born in Montreal and raised in Hudson, Quebec, Louise Carson studied music in Montreal and Toronto, played jazz piano and sang in the chorus of the Canadian Opera Company. Carson has published fourteen books: Rope, a blend of poetry and prose; Mermaid Road, a lyrical novella; A Clearing, a collection of poetry; Executor, a mystery set in China and Toronto; Dog Poems, a collection of poetry; The Last Unsuitable Man, a thriller set in the Sunshine Coast; her historical fiction Deasil Widdy series: In Which, Measured, and Third Circle; and her Maples Mysteries series: The Cat Among Us, The Cat Vanishes, The Cat Between, The Cat Possessed, and A Clutter of Cats.

Her poems appear in literary magazines, chapbooks and anthologies from coast to coast, including The Best Canadian Poetry 2013. She's been short-listed in FreeFall Magazine's annual contest three times, and one poem won a Manitoba Magazine Award. Her novel In Which was shortlisted for a Quebec Writers' Federation award in 2019. She has presented her work in many public forums, including Hudson's Storyfest 2015, as well as in Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, Saskatoon and New York City.

She lives in St-Lazare, Quebec, where she writes, teaches music and gardens.

Louise Carson's profile page