A poetic travelogue through Britain, India and East Africa, this collection is a personal journey through cultural identity, influence and history. It is an exploration of both longing and belonging as it retraces the migrations of three generations. These poems create a space for themselves by drawing on many traditions, both eastern and western. Stylistically concise, yet accessible, the poems use the precision of language to intimately redescribe and redefine a diasporatic postcolonial world. Whether set in Canada or Britain, India, or East Africa, each poem explores the perspective of the intimate outsider.

damian lopes was born in Scotland and raised in Canada and traces his family over much of the globe, including the UK, New Zealand, East Africa, India, and Portugal. His first book of poetry, towards the quiet (ECW), was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award. He is also the author of Clay Lamps and Fighter Kites (Mercury), Project X 1497-1999, sensory deprivation, a collection of visual work (Coach House Books), and co-editor of A Handful of Grams: Goan Proverbs (Caju). He runs Bitwalla Design, and currently lives in Barrie, Ontario.

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"He plays interestingly with Language, including making clever and sometimes funny puns....I enjoyed lopes' Language play and sensibility." — Toronto Star

"A curious, brilliant volume. Much of its power comes from its creation of ramps from which our imaginations must take leaps." — World Literature Today

"An intriguing book of poetry that touches down in Britain, India and East Africa, offering the view...of the intimate outsider." — Calgary Herald