A collection that explores inherited trauma on an individual and
communal level, from a National Poetry Series-winning poet who
"refus[es] the mind's limits" (Carol Muske-Dukes)
Borderline Fortune is a meditation on intangible family
inheritance--of unresolved intergenerational conflicts and traumas in
particular--set against the backdrop of our planetary inheritance as
humans. As species go extinct and glaciers melt, Teresa K. Miller asks
what we owe one another and what it means to echo one's ancestors' grief
and fear. Drawing on her family history, from her great-grandfather's
experience as a schoolteacher on an island in the Bering Strait to her
father's untimely death, as well as her pursuit of regenerative
horticulture, Miller seeks through these beautifully crafted poems to
awaken from the intergenerational trance and bear witness to our current
moment with clarity and attention.