War-Wise and Other Poems

Presented in two parts, the first set, War-Wise, contains thirty-five poems reflecting Murray's memories of life in Manchester, England, during World War II-a war that began when he was two years old. Emitting clear and powerful imagery, some of the titles are straightforward narrative. Others are more reflective and address the effect the Holocaust had on his eight-year-old mind.

In "Ghosts," Murray combines the innocence of childhood with the violence of war.

In Sunday School, we sometimes drew
Pictures whose innocence shone through
The spattered lines of gunshot fire
That dotted and dashed each page entire
Until, on the page, a Messerschmidt
Was finally and firmly hit
And fell in flames into the blue
Of our crayon'd sea; we drew no crew.

The second collection, One Hundred Mood Studies, contains a set of short, stand-alone, rhymed sonnets, each expressing a modern-day emotional conflict. Exercises in the craft of formal writing, these poems provide an outlet for everyday shifts in emotions.