LITTLE KNOWN STORIES

A collection of poetic vignettes detailing a lifelong love, a terminal illness, and an unbearable absence.

These detailed poems provide readers with a nonlinear voyage through the author’s memories, jumping between his present solitary state and the relationship he shared with his late wife, Lisa. Often the reader receives glimpses of his spouse in works that reference her boundless imagination, her determination to work and create, and the sadness that plagued her throughout her 60 years. As a result, the collection becomes not just a chronicle of the author’s grief, but also an effort to offer a complete portrait of Lisa, pulled from memories that become increasingly difficult to grasp with time. Readers join the author in his struggle to hold onto his wife as he loses himself in all that they shared. This late-in-life grief is portrayed as a gutting transformation—a death in and of itself: “As far as the good life I was supposed to have, / I let myself believe it once…. / Foolish expectations / dug a big hole. / I climbed in / and folly was more than happy / to cover me over,” the author writes. The strength of the collection originates in the sense of understanding and awe it forces upon its readers, revealing how one is unable to distance oneself from the pain inherent in love and grief; they’ll be struck with the certainty that they’ll one day experience both. To combine simplicity with artistry is a demanding task, and it’s one that few works can accomplish. Such a balance pulses throughout these stories, which are as stark and complex as loss itself.

A beautiful and piercing look at grief handled with delicacy.