“Poems for When You Can’t Find the Words”, but They Are All We Have | Book Review

A review of the anthology by the Irish Hospice Foundation

There may be no words to express the depth of our grief when losing a loved one, but the Irish Hospice Foundation in partnership with Poetry Ireland made it their mission. Their new anthology, Poems for When You Can’t Find the Words (Gill Books), gathers the verses that poets from all over the world have crafted in hopes of providing solace to both patients and their loved ones when death becomes imminent.

The verdict: at times of such pain and uncertainty, words are all we have, and poetry has the power to make them enough.

Mary Shine Thompson encompasses pieces from authors such as Abby Oliveira, Emily Dickinson, Michael D. Higgins, Louise Glück, among many others just as talented. The curation of the book established no limitations in terms of time (ranging from the Medieval era to the COVID-19 pandemic), language (writings in Irish accompanied by their English translations or interpretations), or form (haikus, sonnets and free verse cohabit harmoniously in these pages).

What gives cohesion to these works is their common themes as well as their purpose…