Poetic Voices: Chelsea Rathburn and Kristina Marie Darling

Poetry and grief are no strangers; one can find expressions of grief in poetic form going back to Homer and Virgil, Beowulf and Dante. Tennyson wrote the book-length poem In Memoriam A.H.H. over the course of 17 years to express his grief at the death of his friend, Arthur Hallam.

Two recent collections by Chelsea Rathburn and Kristina Marie Darling both deal with grief, but is a grief different from that over physical death. These poems are expressions of grief at the end of relationships.

Chelsea Rathburn even puts “grief” in her collection’s  title, A Raft of Grief. And she notes the double meaning of “raft” – both as a symbol of surviving as well as signifying a large amount. The poems address the end of relationships (or perhaps the singular “relationship”) or departures, what happens immediately after, and new beginnings.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.