A collection of poetry organized in two sections. The first section, "Versed," play with vice and versa, the perversity of human consciousness. They flirt with error and delusion, skating on a thin ice that inevitably cracks. The second section, "Dark Matter," alludes to more than the unseen substance thought to make up the majority of mass in the universe. The invisible and unknowable are confronted directly as the author's experience with cancer marks these poems with a new austerity, shot through with her signature wit and stark unsentimental thinking.--From publisher description.

During a poetry retreat Faith's patience is tested by Emilie Smythe, an ill-mannered lecturer with an uncanny resemblance to Emily Dickinson. Emilie not only dresses like Emily Dickinson, but also owns a Newfoundland named Carlo. She claims to be Emily's great great granddaughter and hands papers to Faith to prove the authenticity. The next day Faith and her friends discover Emilie's body washed ashore on a deserted beach. Now they try to figure was she murdered or did she take her own life.--Amazon.com