Grief and Her Three Sisters

To let go of the past and present circumstances that cause us grief, we must first come to terms with our place in the universe.

In Jerry Lovelady’s latest poetry collection, Grief and Her Three Sisters, he explores the sweet sadness of grieving and feeling the full weight of our regrets. His poems illustrate how grief contains beneficial tools for solving the complex problems associated with living. If poetry can truly heal the soul with its wit, its wisdom and its imagery, this book does it all.

These poignant passages reveal our secret longings and regrets which guide our near escapes into the fond memories of our pleasant past. Lovelady’s poetry engages the reader with a subtle spiritualism that is laced throughout this collection, chocked full of remarkable, insightful life’s lessons.

 

 

 

Poet Jerry Lovelady has here assembled imaginative works focused on the sadness and sense of frustration and finality that life events can sometimes summon.

The volume is arrayed in four parts. Part One, The River Gods, sets the reader on the poet’s journey, its title declaring “The Great River Taketh.” In it we see that a river has stolen sufficient topsoil to reveal a patch of wild onions, recognizable by the “pale, white florets” that appear in May. Despite his mowing around them to preserve their beauty, Lovelady knows that even his mowing is killing millions of other life forms, and more will tenaciously arise to cover and devour. Nature, he concludes, is a transforming, transfiguring process. This same force is explored in “Our Cabin the Woods” – a cottage also affected by river’s flooding.

Human love and devotion are expressed in Part Two, Love’s Bind Shambling, beginning with a look at “My Two-Dimensional Refrigerator Universe” – an appliance coated with photographs that go back generations – “infant, to toddler, to teen, to adult.” In “Thrown Away,” the poet laments the gradual diminution of love, signaled by “red flags which you erected around yourself.” Part Three is emotively entitled A Rhapsody for Contrite Hearts, in which humor is injected by way of letters written to Thor during a heavy thunderstorm, in “Godlike and Unafraid.” The closing portion, Simple Songs of Meager Understanding, concludes with an exhortation: “Move Your Mountain” suggests that despite the apparent challenges of grief, it is possible to “dig till you find yourself.”

Lovelady’s eponymous “Grief” is personified as a widow with three sisters who contribute “Memory,” “Vain Hope,” and False Pride” – “characters” that many a sorrow laden reader may have encountered. And though the general theme may be morose and mournful, many of the pictures that Lovelady paints here offer the long term, much awaited prospect of happiness. The author has published a previous work – Other Worlds, in Other Words – and it is obvious from the Grief gathering that he will have much more to say, promising a next volume by the end of the coming year.

Quill says: Jerry Lovelady is clearly devoted to the art and crafting of poetry, equally at home in free verse or rhyme, with subjects ranging from stars and mythological gods to simple, homespun touches – enjoying hot cocoa and doughnuts in childhood, sweeping a roof or mowing the lawn in manhood.

 

Jerry Lovelady’s Grief and Her Three Sisters is an exquisite collection of poetry that touches upon themes of grief, regret, death and love. These poems convey the experiences of the author along with the lessons he has learned. Lovelady’s poems are nature-infused and colored with wisdom, pride, and acceptance. The central idea of these thought-provoking poems are to help those who have regrets come to terms with it and heal from it.

Lovelady’s writing is beautiful and heart-wrenching at times. The reader can clearly imagine the scenarios the author lays out for us, making the reader feel like they are transported to a different place and time. There are many poems that make the reader reflect on the past, whether good or bad, but the author always ends a poem with a sense of calm and acceptance.

This emotive and flowing poetry eases some of the heartaches in a world that seem quite short of love right now. Lovelady’s poetry takes an insightful and almost mystic approach to poetic expression. His poems tend to pry apart the wrappings of his internal emotional conflicts, displaying what he finds there in a spiritual context that directs the reader toward the redemption of the human spirit more than toward a stark, surreal escapism.

The author has transformed his personal journey into one so many readers would be able relate to. I recommend these poems to anyone who is struggling with grief, and to anyone who has overcome the hurdles it presents in life. Grief and Her Three Sisters is a beautiful and emotional collection of poetry. This book will help heal a grief-stricken heart and assures the reader that they are not alone.

 

This collection of poetry explores love, loss, and Earth’s natural cycles.

“In a world that seems quite short of love right now I hope that this book eases some of the heartaches,” remarks Lovelady in his author’s note. Divided into four parts, the volume features threads of compassion and hope in its approach to both world affairs and personal struggles. Many of the poems found here strive to understand grief. In the title piece, the poet personifies “Memory,” “Vain Hope,” and “False Pride” to examine how they interact with and influence their sister, Grief. Lovelady regularly draws on the natural world to understand life’s major transitions. For instance, in the opening poem, “The Great River Taketh,” the poet observes: “In death there is always life. / In a seed there is hope for life.” On other occasions, Lovelady ponders the stars (“Twinkling bodies boldly pinned / to flowing black velvet dresses”); the “expected chaos” of current events; and even the process of writing itself. The poet takes seemingly mundane tasks, such as mowing a lawn, and transforms them into poignant meditations on life. In “Mowing as Dharma,” Lovelady writes: “My lawnmower does not care. / It mows them all over with impunity. / Their Zombie seedlings will simply grow back / from headless stumps.” Such lines offer thought-provoking commentary on natural cycles of loss and renewal. The poet’s evocative use of language serves to tenderly immerse readers in nature: “Hear the quiet sighs of sycamore souls. / A friendly breeze tousles / their slender white branches, / festooned with dying leaves.” There are rare occasions when Lovelady relies on clichés, but this does not significantly detract from the quality of the writing: “We cuddled like two spoons in the drawer.” In this collection, the poet offers a refreshingly unique perspective on what it means to be human in an increasingly inscrutable world. Readers will return again and again for the sense of respite and hope that fills these pages.

Compassionate, wistfully observant, and thoughtful poems.