"We are all tired of stumbling around
in the dark of uncertainty.
He wants to give us light."
This is the first book I have read by this shrewd and noteworthy poet. Her story of a family trying to recover from the father’s abandonment and eventual return is touching and tender…and very cautious for CJ. It is not easy to forget what his father has done and to accept that the man who left has changed enough for everyone to trust him once again. The voices are as convincing as they are different. CJ has been the ‘man’ of the house and it has been a hard row to hoe. He is apprehensive and still hurting. The others seem dedicated to welcome Dad back. While each has a struggle to adjust, CJ’s is the most prolonged.
Using poetry to tell a family story filled with hurt, hopelessness, raw honesty and finally, hope is a remarkable gift. Word choice is so precise and the space for the telling so spare that the poet must truly have a gift to make it work so stunningly well. What a treat to be able to share CJ's story with your own children or your adolescent students. And then let it go and let them read it on their own again...to feel CJ's pain, his confusion, his eventual consent to bring health and harmony back to the family through forgiveness.
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