Green is the color of beginnings, of memory and regeneration, of the "fluid arc of what has been, / forever becoming us." John Blair's debut poetry collection, The Green Girls, takes the reader on a journey through life as it explores such subjects as marriage, family, and sex. Written in several voices, from husband and wife, brother and sister, young and old, the poems remind us that paradise "doesn't invite us back." Although filled with sadness and pain, Blair's elegantly written free verse resonates with a quiet optimism even while discussing losses and lapses that give life both its terror and its potential for redemption.

John Blair's poems have appeared in Poetry, Georgia Review, and New Letters, and his short story collection, American Standard, won the 2002 Drue Heinz Award. He lives in Texas with his wife and son.