first and foremost shout out to Nell Hendricks (Ilustrator)


I've written fifteen books of poetry in the last decade, and I have a difficult relationship with some of those books. this is one of them. with fifty untitled poems taking the reader from diagnosis to death. it is a book that is processing grief, as such it is raw and emotional.

as I read it in book form for the first time I saw it differently and for the first time as a frank conversation between the books three main characters with our most taboo subject: accepting death.

with stubborn mule publishing "afterlife," I talked to karl's youngest daughter, nell, about using a print she made about her dad's final night for the cover. we also talked about her doing some pen and ink drawings to accompany my poems. she agreed to both and that's mostly how we get to here.

I could quote camus in this space, but I'll keep it simple: fuck cancer