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Beyond Despair
William Zink is the author of several novels and poetry collections. In August of 2015, his wife went in for a routine mammogram – a week after riding in Pelotonia, a central Ohio bike ride for cancer. Cancer was found in her right breast. Because of family history, she decided to have a double mastectomy. “Beyond Despair” is a collection of poems, written for and about his wife, as she battled this disease.
“Beyond Despair is a moving and very personal reflection on the impact that cancer can have on an individual and a family. I highly recommend it for anyone seeking a glimpse at both the emotional and physical impact that a cancer diagnosis can have in the life of a family.”
– Doug Ulman, President/CEO PELOTONIA®
“Beyond Despair is a moving and very personal reflection on the impact that cancer can have on an individual and a family. I highly recommend it for anyone seeking a glimpse at both the emotional and physical impact that a cancer diagnosis can have in the life of a family.”
– Doug Ulman, President/CEO PELOTONIA®
95 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
162 people want to read
About the author
William Zink
17 books59 followers"Zink is one hell of a writer." — Andrei Codrescu
William Zink is the author of numerous books, including The Hole, Ballad of the Confessor, Ohio River Dialogues, Pieta, and Wild Grapes. His books have been praised by Booklist, Andrei Codrescu, The Charleston City Paper, The Main Street Rag, Donald Ray Pollock, Dagoberto Gilb, and others. His novel, Ohio River Dialogues, was a finalist for the Ohioana Fiction Award.
William Zink is the author of numerous books, including The Hole, Ballad of the Confessor, Ohio River Dialogues, Pieta, and Wild Grapes. His books have been praised by Booklist, Andrei Codrescu, The Charleston City Paper, The Main Street Rag, Donald Ray Pollock, Dagoberto Gilb, and others. His novel, Ohio River Dialogues, was a finalist for the Ohioana Fiction Award.
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February 19, 2017
Thank you to the author and publisher for a review copy of this book.
"Beyond Despair" is a book of poems written by the author on the subjects of love, marriage, sickness, family, death, and of course despair and what may lie beyond it. It is a group of poems written for and about the author's wife as she, along with her husband and family, battled breast cancer. The title refers both to the feeling of total hopelessness on the one hand when faced with looming tragedy and fear, and on the other, to what we might find on the other side of that experience, the possibility of living past the fear and tragedy, and facing a future that contains hope, sunlight, and healing, both physical and psychic.
Illness may be great fodder for poetry, but it's not exactly the kind of subject matter a reader wants to dive into, and I was sort of dreading the emotional downer I thought this book must be. And while there are here some poems that touch the depths of pain, I was pleasantly surprised that not only was it not the depressing read I anticipated, but an overall uplifting read. It expressed moments of pure joy and deep contentment, but also beautiful writing and stunning imagery. The book is a paen not only to Zink's wife, but also to love and life itself. It gives glimpses of small moments of heaven and even the looks at the hard times are written with such tenderness and love.
I love the poems that present a moment in time, a jumping off point for the author's musings on his relationship with his wife. "The Nineteenth Floor," for example, begins with the poet's looking out at the city below his wife's hospital room, spotting the various places of the city they know, and retelling the pieces of their history like laying out pieces of a crazy quilt on a bed. In "Cow Parsnip" the sight of these plants leads to musings on their and his wife's nature. In "Happy Legs," the narrator's quick trip to the bakery for milk and bread is the epitome of joy and contentment on earth.
There are a series of unbelievably beautifully written poems in iambic pentameter, in the style of the Romantic poets, that had me re-reading them before moving on to the next. "Sorrow's Tree" took my breath away. "Last Pink Floret," "A Lamb's Tale," "To Walk Again," "I've Loved You," just to name a few, written in a Wordsworthian style, contain language, meter, and imagery that I never imagined I'd ever read again in a modern poet. Zink does it wonderfully!
The best poem of the bunch, I think, is the eponymous "Beyond Despair." In it Zink describes a day in which natural tragedy strikes but leaves him and his wife intact. One tiny, almost unconscious gesture on her part provides the narrator with the true meaning of hope and how to look at the future and life itself.
"Beyond Despair" is a book of poems written by the author on the subjects of love, marriage, sickness, family, death, and of course despair and what may lie beyond it. It is a group of poems written for and about the author's wife as she, along with her husband and family, battled breast cancer. The title refers both to the feeling of total hopelessness on the one hand when faced with looming tragedy and fear, and on the other, to what we might find on the other side of that experience, the possibility of living past the fear and tragedy, and facing a future that contains hope, sunlight, and healing, both physical and psychic.
Illness may be great fodder for poetry, but it's not exactly the kind of subject matter a reader wants to dive into, and I was sort of dreading the emotional downer I thought this book must be. And while there are here some poems that touch the depths of pain, I was pleasantly surprised that not only was it not the depressing read I anticipated, but an overall uplifting read. It expressed moments of pure joy and deep contentment, but also beautiful writing and stunning imagery. The book is a paen not only to Zink's wife, but also to love and life itself. It gives glimpses of small moments of heaven and even the looks at the hard times are written with such tenderness and love.
I love the poems that present a moment in time, a jumping off point for the author's musings on his relationship with his wife. "The Nineteenth Floor," for example, begins with the poet's looking out at the city below his wife's hospital room, spotting the various places of the city they know, and retelling the pieces of their history like laying out pieces of a crazy quilt on a bed. In "Cow Parsnip" the sight of these plants leads to musings on their and his wife's nature. In "Happy Legs," the narrator's quick trip to the bakery for milk and bread is the epitome of joy and contentment on earth.
There are a series of unbelievably beautifully written poems in iambic pentameter, in the style of the Romantic poets, that had me re-reading them before moving on to the next. "Sorrow's Tree" took my breath away. "Last Pink Floret," "A Lamb's Tale," "To Walk Again," "I've Loved You," just to name a few, written in a Wordsworthian style, contain language, meter, and imagery that I never imagined I'd ever read again in a modern poet. Zink does it wonderfully!
The best poem of the bunch, I think, is the eponymous "Beyond Despair." In it Zink describes a day in which natural tragedy strikes but leaves him and his wife intact. One tiny, almost unconscious gesture on her part provides the narrator with the true meaning of hope and how to look at the future and life itself.
Displaying 1 of 1 review