My Heart Is Not Asleep - Kindle version

by Thomas A. Thomas

More Praise for My Heart Is Not Asleep
What a blessing this book is: poems earned from the threshold of love and loss, attuned to music, drenched in gorgeous imagery, and with the steady cadence of a voice willing to stay with pain and revelation. The offering of these poems, which is a true kind of gift and medicine, is one born of a courage,
to return to a heart that is not asleep, that is again and again awake and open to the ravishing heartbreak of the slow loss of a beloved, and to the persistent beauty of fog and the Salish sea, of the scrape of seal whiskers on the bottom of a kayak, of huckleberry and cedar fronds and ferns, where “bright silent, urgent light rushes to touch it all.” Thomas reminds us that grief and beauty are inexorable, and that patient attunement and intimacy with beauty is a path that can carry us through.
—Anne Haven McDonnell, author of Breath on a Coal
Thomas Thomas’s tender poems of love and grief are beautiful and powerful, sometimes overwhelming the reader with their unabashed emotion: “I know, I know, I know everything loved is to be lost / and scattered; and yet the daily lesson drums / in the blood beneath my skin.” Thomas’s well-crafted poems lament the shortness of life while celebrating memory’s power to keep the past alive.
—Michael Simms, author of Strange Meadowlark
What a poignant pleasure it is to read My Heart Is Not Asleep, bittersweet as many of Thomas’s subjects are. I felt like I was kayaking with the poet, walking the beach with him, taking in all the natural wonders that offer him consolation on a daily basis. Thomas has captured the anguish of ambiguous loss— the endless ebbing that is dementia—but he has also captured the intimate connection that is still there for so long; and that love that never ends.
—Ann Hedreen, author of Her Beautiful Brain

Genres: Poetry

55 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 23, 2024

About the author

Thomas A. Thomas is an acclaimed poet, photographer, and editor whose work explores the intersections of memory, nature, and the human spirit. Living gratefully in the Pacific Northwest since 1981, Thomas brings a rare blend of emotional honesty and lyrical precision to his art.

His most recent collection, My Heart Is Not Asleep (MoonPath Press, 2024), a tender and courageous meditation on love, loss, and resilience in the face of Alzheimer’s, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, as have several of his individual poems since 2022. The book and his body of work have earned him nominations for Best Spiritual Literature (2025 & 2026) and recognition as a Finalist in the 2025 Washington State Book Awards.

Thomas’s poetry, photography, and videos appear widely in print and online, including MacQueen’s Quinterly, Verse Daily, Gyroscope Review, Cirque Journal, Blue Heron Review, Vox Populi, The Banyan Review, and FemAsia Magazine. His work is also featured in several anthologies, including Voices Elevated – 10 Years of the Elk River Writers Workshop, and has been translated into Spanish, Serbian, and Bengali.

A lifelong artist and advocate for creative expression, Thomas continues to illuminate the profound connections between nature, love, and the endurance of the human heart.
https://thomas-a-thomas.com/

Reviews

[Julene · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Heart is Not Asleep, by Thomas A. Thomas is a poetry book that invites the reader into a personal love relationship and its loss. Through his eyes we witness the devastating effects of Alzheimer's. In his poem, "Because the Words," he expresses the physical impedius that birthed this book, "Because the words turn to broken glass on my tongue / and make of my voice a rusty hinge, / I write them here. // Dread darkness grows behind beloved blue eyes, ...." And ends, "My beloved disappears, day upon night, untethered in time, / leaving language behind. And yes, because / her words are being lost, / I write these, here." A moving tribute to their love and expression of grief.

The author is a photographer and sees the natural world with laser vision, precise detail that is a joy to read. In the poem, "In a Time," he writes of the month August and the mix of the hardships and yet joy that beset his family and his life. "And it is still the month berries ripen along / humid vines, corn ears swell in steamy fields, / as fawns fatten out of their spots, gorging on / clover blossoms and dandelion blooms, as seal / pups bask between fishing lessons, as fingerlings // flash to avoid shadows, as kingfisher young / learn not to make shadows as they dive, it is / the month apples begin to blush at the thought / of falling, time of joy upon joy, joy upon sorrow, / time of sorry, time of love upon love upon love upon love." Keen observations that are succulent to read and feel.

We have nature, love, sadness, grief, and yes, joy. The beautiful cover is one of his photographs. Anyone who has loved will be moved by this book.

[Isla McKetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book to read in the early dawn when all there is to reflect on is everything. I knew Thomas in grad school, his gentleness, his seeing, a little of his pain. This book is filled to bursting with his love, the tender closeness that is most to be cherished. And the writing is great, too :)

[Shel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful sensory and nature images tell the poet's story and perspective of caring for a lover for a decade who is experiencing decline from early onset Alzheimer's. The poems take us tenderly through seasons of loss while paying attention to the experience and beauty of life in the Pacific Northwest (oceans, owls, cherry petals, grass blades, breezes, forget-me-nots). The last poem "Tides" punctuates the collection "she remains/in the little boat/of her hospital bed." This collection pairs well with "Her Beautiful Brain: A Memoir" by Ann Hedreen, about losing her mother to Alzheimer's.

[Angry.Sad.Motivated · Rating 3 out of 5]

Devastating final poem.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is truly lovely although of course difficult in places. The writing feels more authentic than similar titles-- raw but not wrung out, not performative, more honest. A good selection for public libraries.

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