Somehow

by Helen Calcutt

In September 2017, Helen Calcutt’s brother Matthew took his own life. He was 40 years old.

‘… the phone rang / and when I answered it / you’d killed / yourself, and that was the start / of you being dead.’

This is the starting point of an astonishing new pamphlet of poems by Helen Calcutt. At times harrowing; at others hopeful – always deeply felt and beautifully realised. These poems display the poise and precision of a poet already at the height of her powers, writing the un-writable, weaving the terrible into something relatable and filled with the light of understanding.

Genres: Poetry

39 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2020

Reviews

[Manpreet Kaur]

Powerful, emotional, beautiful poetry, very vivid imagery, the flow, the variety of poems, everything in this pamphlet is super beautiful.

[Courtney LeBlanc]

A collection of poems focusing on the poet's brother's suicide, and the guilt, loss, grief, and devastation of continuing to live.

from Something terrible happened: "the phone rang / and when I answered / it you'd killed / yourself, and that was the start / of you being dead."

from Light: "and they have said // grief // is a family of birds / thrown from the nest"