Book of Dog: Heartwarming Poems for Dog Lovers - Perfect for Gifts, Reading Aloud & Pet Memorials

I have been a fan of Cleopatra Mathis for nearly ten years now. I was introduced to her work through poetry readings in New Hampshire. There is something sharp edged and honest about her writing--a keen eye reporting what it sees and a keen heart reporting what it feels.So I was embarrassed to discover that she had written and published a book last year (2012) and I missed it. I bought it immediately and dived in. As with most things new, it took me a while to warm up to her again. This book seemed to be vaguely about loss--a divorce, a death--maybe several losses. But it wasn't coalescing. That's fine; I'm used to that, especially in strong work, musical or literary. I'll just read it again until it becomes "mine."Then I hit the middle section, Book of Dog. Overwhelming.It's a dangerous thing to write about sadness. The subject has accumulated too many cliches over time, it too easily lapses into the maudlin--there was even a movement in 17th century poetry designed to 'make grown men cry' in the fashion of the day. No such here. Mathis evokes grief through the particulars that surround it, the very things that make it so overwhelming: the absence of the lost from the landscape, from one's daily habits; the imperative to continue as if nothing has happened; the denial of communication, of consultation with a trusted intimate--be they human or animal.This as superb a threnody as I have read. And it succeeds because Mathis keeps her eye and her heart focussed. No nostrums. No panaceas. No evocations divine solace. Just grief as it is. To summarize, you can't beat Stephen Dunn's blurb, which begins, "I love this book! And haven't been able to say so about any book so unequivocally for a long time." I agree with his passion, but think I could say so about Ms. Matthis's previous books as well.