The Residents

The Residents is Matthew Friday's first book of poetry. It begins with the author's arrival at the height of the COVID pandemic and explores his new life as a US resident. The poems reflect on this new journey and study what being a resident means for other people, flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest. While Oregon's inhabitants and landscape form the basis of many poems, others explore residency in a wider sense, crossing borders near and far away. Subjects range from barbers to hummingbirds, immigration headaches to territorial hawks, children splashing in puddles to bread-making with a father-in-law. Anyone who loves poetry that is concise yet descriptive, rich in images but with accessible language will want to read this book.