Stroking Cerberus: Poems from the Afterlife

by Jacqueline Haskell

The living have always told themselves stories about the dead, but few of us stop to wonder if the dead ever tell tales of the living. Through the prism of Haskell’s identity as a deaf poet come the themes of communication—or miscommunication—across worlds, languages and between the living and the dead.

Mythical dogs, the dead who mourn the living, and the sorrow of those reincarnated, join hands around Jacqueline Haskell’s unique and very personal poetic Ouija board to resonate with the living, the dead and all those in-between. As forcible as they are humorous, these are poignant and thought-provoking poems.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

Published January 29, 2020

Reviews

[Briar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stroking Cerberus is a collection of poems about death and dying, the people left behind and the people leaving, and, sometimes, the ones who come back. In this collection, death is not a thing to fear but a thing to be curious about. There is mourning and pain, and there is also hope and living – for those on both sides of the veil. I loved the sheer variety of ways of thinking about death in this book and how warm so many of them felt.

There’s also a lot about communication. Some of the poems are explicitly about it, with people stretching out, trying to keep their loved ones near them. The first part of the collection is rich with poems about people trying to use technology or memory to communicate with those they’ve lost. I loved Unexpected Contact, which has a neat twist on the idea of communication with the dead and made me smile with delight, and also Isthmus, which had a sad and strange forlornness to it.

Many of the other poems are about different aspects of death and dying, but also feature an I and a you. The speaker attempts to communicate some idea or ask a question of someone who’s no longer with them, either because they have died or because they have not. Passing Place was a favourite of these. I loved the way that I could almost see and smell and hear and feel what the speaker was talking about.

I don’t read a huge amount of poetry, and when I do it’s usually one or two poems at a time rather than a collection. Reading Stroking Cerberus, I found myself fascinated (particularly as I read it through for a second time) by the way that it’s laid out and the care that seems to have been taken to make it work well as a collection.

I mentioned previously that the first half seems particularly concerned with communication. The second half of the book, on the other hand, has lots of poems about or around mythology, especially (though not exclusively) Greek mythology. Daedalus, Charon, Orpheus, and, of course, Cerberus, all have their place, and I think Jacqueline Haskell has done a really good job of doing something a bit different with these characters. I was especially taken with the rather bleak and heartbreaking Orpheus, which begins, “He does not look back.” A short poem, but it really packs a punch.

Of course, there are many other poems that aren’t about the two themes I’ve mentioned. On my second read I found myself noticing links and echoes, small things that make the book feel truly like a collection. For one, the cabbage roses. They appear at the start, in the fourth poem, Layerings, and then again in the third-to-last one, Motherdaughter. Both were poems that I really liked and that are linked by more than cabbage roses – each is about a child and a mother, and while they talk about the relationship in different ways I couldn’t help wondering if they were the same mother and daughter. I didn’t notice this at all on my first read, but I think it still contributed to my sense of this book as a coherent collection.

Then, intriguingly, four poems in which the sea played a significant role were grouped right in the middle of the collection – perhaps (or perhaps not!) marking the transition between the first half and the second. It would make sense; the sea shore is a very liminal space, appropriate to a book about death. Of these I especially enjoyed The Carrying, which was strange and mildly unnerving, yet also sweet and hopeful.

In fact, I noticed a few times that poems with similar themes or imagery were grouped together. A lipstick called Peachy Mama appears in two consecutive poems. Three poems about Charon make a little sequence. And two of the most sharply painful in the collection, Balloon Child and Amelie, both about the deaths of children, come back to back. I liked the way this made it feel like there were multiple tiny collections within the collection. Incidentally, Balloon Child is one of my favourites; the joy and then the pain are communicated and contrasted so deftly within just a few lines.

I really recommend Stroking Cerberus. It’s filled with beautiful poems. Some make you feel and some make you think, and some do both. There were a couple which, if I’m honest, went right over my head. I still enjoyed them, and I felt as though I was grasping for something in them which I couldn’t quite get a hold on; my confusion felt aspirational rather than depressing.

Thank you to Jacqueline Haskell for sending me a copy of Stroking Cerberus to review!

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really poignant collection meditating on the subject of death, spurred on by the loss of the poet's son.
The language used in this collection roots itself in the landscape — forests and beaches and fields of wild flowers and herbs — contrasting scenes of abundance and fecundity with the portentous nature of the Greek myths of Orpheus, Icarus and Minos.
There is a lot of love put into these poems.

[Abbi Senior · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I have neglected on my shelves for a long time - to my own detriment.

This is a stunning collection - the best I have read in 2023 (so far) - everything about it is gorgeous and deeply felt. Beautiful language, clever imagery - all woven together so skilfully! This is a beautiful piece and I loved it!

Intricate, delicate and beautiful - without a doubt, five stars.

[Contrary Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one felt like Lincoln in the Bardo meets Ghosts by Leanne Shapton- so many voices clamouring to be heard