A review by csamura
How to Love the Empty Air by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz

5.0

I lost my mother a little more than 3 months ago. The wound is still fresh and raw, so many of these poems resonated and spoke truth to the depth and complexity of what I'm feeling. It was also a glimpse into the future, how I might feel on the first mother's day without her, or the anniversary of her death. Each poem was full of vulnerability, laying bare the pain of grief and the reality of such a loss. Aptowicz does a phenomenal job of characterizing her mother and the relationship they had, and what that relationship means and becomes after her death. Somehow the poem that made me truly sob was the very last one in the book. How I wish I had memories like that with my own mom. This was a tender and wrenching tribute to the love of a life time and the loss of a lifetime. Mostly I just want to thank the author for bringing this gorgeous collection into the world, I will treasure it forever.