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Passing Through: Some thoughts on life and death
In the last week of January 2025, poet K Morris suffered a seizure whilst at home. This was rapidly followed by several other seizures, and the discovery that he was suffering from a brain abscess, which required an urgent operation.
In this book the poet describes his thoughts and feelings as he grapples with his own mortality. Other poems touch on the mundane rhythms of hospital life, and the poet’s yearning to return to the great outdoors and Mother Nature.
In this book the poet describes his thoughts and feelings as he grapples with his own mortality. Other poems touch on the mundane rhythms of hospital life, and the poet’s yearning to return to the great outdoors and Mother Nature.
59 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 16, 2025
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May 20, 2025
As the Preface explains, all except one of these fifty short poems were written after the author experienced seizures that eventually led to brain surgery. They reflect his moods before, during, and after his stay in hospital.
Those familiar with Morris’s poetry will know that mortality is a frequent theme. In this book, personal experience intensifies this aspect. Some of the poems include familiar elements, such as the ticking of a clock, glimpses of girls in short dresses, and birdsong. But awareness of mortality is the predominant subject here.
The poems written while in hospital range from the poignant “Seagulls Cry,” which the poet identifies as expressing his lowest mood, to the wry amusement of “Patients Eat Their Toast,” and the relief of “Whole Again.” “The Cleaner’s Mop” pairs the bustle of activity in the hospital with the inevitable return of dust.
Most of the poems combine an appreciation for life with an unsentimental acceptance of eventual death. This is beautifully expressed in “I Long for the Wet Woods,” thus: “But we are forever part / Of nature’s great heart. / Her vital cycle of birth, / Death, and good earth.” In “I Have Passed Tombs,” a perfume-wearing “she” passes by the dead in their tombs. “And the dead slept on / When she was gone. / We find brevity in lust / And permanence in dust.”
In “The Tinkle of Wind Chimes,” beauty and mortality are perceived in the same moment. The final poem “Ambiguity,” appears to look beyond the author’s life to how his poetry will be received by those who read it.
This book’s quiet, reflective mood while addressing a serious subject may prove to be reassuring to readers who are themselves recovering from illness or contemplating the trajectory of life.
Those familiar with Morris’s poetry will know that mortality is a frequent theme. In this book, personal experience intensifies this aspect. Some of the poems include familiar elements, such as the ticking of a clock, glimpses of girls in short dresses, and birdsong. But awareness of mortality is the predominant subject here.
The poems written while in hospital range from the poignant “Seagulls Cry,” which the poet identifies as expressing his lowest mood, to the wry amusement of “Patients Eat Their Toast,” and the relief of “Whole Again.” “The Cleaner’s Mop” pairs the bustle of activity in the hospital with the inevitable return of dust.
Most of the poems combine an appreciation for life with an unsentimental acceptance of eventual death. This is beautifully expressed in “I Long for the Wet Woods,” thus: “But we are forever part / Of nature’s great heart. / Her vital cycle of birth, / Death, and good earth.” In “I Have Passed Tombs,” a perfume-wearing “she” passes by the dead in their tombs. “And the dead slept on / When she was gone. / We find brevity in lust / And permanence in dust.”
In “The Tinkle of Wind Chimes,” beauty and mortality are perceived in the same moment. The final poem “Ambiguity,” appears to look beyond the author’s life to how his poetry will be received by those who read it.
This book’s quiet, reflective mood while addressing a serious subject may prove to be reassuring to readers who are themselves recovering from illness or contemplating the trajectory of life.
September 14, 2025
I have read a lot of this poet's thoughtful and though provoking poetry and, for me, this is his best collection to date. A short collection of intense and heart felt poems written by the poet in the aftermath of a seizure leading to brain surgery, and his subsequent recovery in hospital.
Having experienced a similar health incident with a loved one, I related strongly to Kevin's reflections on both life and death as he grappled to come to terms with 'looking death in the eye' as depicted in his poem, Seizure:
"I felt no cold breath of Death
Nor the Reaper's skeletal hand
Yet he greeted me
And I mumbled and tumbled
And found myself on the cold ground
Where all are bound."
The tedium and drift towards institutionalisation that characterise a long stay in hospital are exposed through the poet's fine words in Free Air"
"How dear the air is to me.
It enters through my window
And calls to me of liberty
And says how, below, people don't know
The profundity of the air."
A change in attitude towards life having faced mortality intimately is a common reaction. I have witnessed this same change in others and I believe it does lead to better life choices and seizing joy in moments. All of these reflections and subtle changes in outlook are clearly evident in these compelling poems.
Extract from A Garden in Early Spring:
"I could decide to go inside
As the temperature has dropped.
Yet the blackbird has not stopped
His song, which brings delight.
So I stay as the day
Moves imperceptibly towards the night.
A beautiful and moving collection.
Having experienced a similar health incident with a loved one, I related strongly to Kevin's reflections on both life and death as he grappled to come to terms with 'looking death in the eye' as depicted in his poem, Seizure:
"I felt no cold breath of Death
Nor the Reaper's skeletal hand
Yet he greeted me
And I mumbled and tumbled
And found myself on the cold ground
Where all are bound."
The tedium and drift towards institutionalisation that characterise a long stay in hospital are exposed through the poet's fine words in Free Air"
"How dear the air is to me.
It enters through my window
And calls to me of liberty
And says how, below, people don't know
The profundity of the air."
A change in attitude towards life having faced mortality intimately is a common reaction. I have witnessed this same change in others and I believe it does lead to better life choices and seizing joy in moments. All of these reflections and subtle changes in outlook are clearly evident in these compelling poems.
Extract from A Garden in Early Spring:
"I could decide to go inside
As the temperature has dropped.
Yet the blackbird has not stopped
His song, which brings delight.
So I stay as the day
Moves imperceptibly towards the night.
A beautiful and moving collection.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews