“Poets are our intrepid adventurers into the unknowable, thinkers on the unthinkable. Epstein’s collection brings us a refreshing look at the brave task of examining the most common, in... More > fact ultimate, human experience of dying, all too often shunned and studiously avoided in our Western society. Anytime we can pause to consider death, ..., we are brought more closely to fully living, to valuing each and every breath and moment as only the consideration of death allows.”
—Jana Baldridge Vargas, author of The Promise of Death, The Passion of Life: A Reflective Exploration of Death, Loss and Living Fully.
“In the face of death, human beings create art. Robert Epstein has collected pieces of that art together in one place for your consideration. Within this collection you will find your own awareness of death reflected in the voices of your fellow human beings, as we all seek to come to terms with impermanence.”
—Patricia J Anderson, All of Us: Americans Talk about the Meaning of Death.< Less
Young or old, healthy or sick, wealthy or poor, sooner or later all of us face losses in our lives. Whether these losses are big or small, they affect us and leave their mark. At the center of grief... More > over the death of a loved one, job loss, financial hardship, divorce, miscarriage, and changes due to aging is a hardy seed of renewal. As the poets in this collection attest, grief, sorrow and acceptance serve as a bridge between the past and future—a thread of love and courage that restores wholeness and continuity. Pause with the poets here in the present moment who happen upon a door that only looks closed but opens again and again to the Eternal Now—where departed loved ones and new possibilities await us. Haiku helps to contain our grief and gently returns it to Nature, wherein true healing takes place. As such, haiku (and its related forms) can be considered the poetry of full catastrophe living, which points the way forward to the recovery of ordinary awe.< Less
