Who I am.

I write about the landscape of grief, nature, and the wisdom of fools. The author of four books, my essays, poems, and reviews have been published in over 50 journals, including in the Huffington Post and Colorado Review. I’ve won the River Teeth Nonfiction Book Award, the Chautauqua and Literal Latte’s essay prizes, and my work has been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and named a notable by Best American Essays. My account of hiking in Yosemite to deal with my wife’s death, Mountains of Light, was published by the University of Nebraska Press. http://www.markliebenow.com.

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Circumference of Grief

Michelle Burke’s poem “Diameter” raises a bunch of “what ifs.” In the poem, she flies across the country to be with a friend who is grieving, a friend who is wondering if there is a there in the afterlife, and if so, if the one who died is waiting for her there.

For no particular reason, I think of a friend who lost his wife. Well, there is a reason, but it doesn’t matter here because, although I have someone specific in mind, I also know dozens of other people in similar circumstances. Nor does it matter that I used to live in Oakland where Gertrude Stein quipped about whether there was a there there, or not. 

* If you would like to read the rest of this post, let me know and I’ll send it to you. *

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