Wild Things: Poems of Grief and Love, Loss and Gratitude

"Grief is such a messy thing," Roberta Bondi writes in the introduction. "It fills us with many ideas and images, memories and fantasies, celebration and bitter regret all at once - all superimposed upon one another. No wonder it wears us out."

In this book of poetry and reflections on her mother's death, Bondi acknowledges her grief in the presence of God over the span of a few months. She expresses many conflicting feelings: love, pain, anger, guilt, emptiness, confusion, exhaustion, relief that her mother was no longer suffering. As she celebrates her mother's life and wrestles with her own sense of loss and longing, she ponders the mystery of life, death, and God's presence every day all around us in nature as well as in relationships.

Even though we may feel isolated in our grief, we do not grieve alone, Bondi reminds us. In this firsthand account of her grief, she offers a gift to all who are grieving - comfort and help with accepting the forward and backward movements of grief and loss.

Wild Things will also be a valuable resource for those seeking to aid and comfort the grieving: pastors, counselors, chaplains, hospice workers, and family and friends of those dealing with loss.

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Wild Things: Poems of Grief and Love, Loss and Gratitude

"Grief is such a messy thing," Roberta Bondi writes in the introduction. "It fills us with many ideas and images, memories and fantasies, celebration and bitter regret all at once - all superimposed upon one another. No wonder it wears us out."

In this book of poetry and reflections on her mother's death, Bondi acknowledges her grief in the presence of God over the span of a few months. She expresses many conflicting feelings: love, pain, anger, guilt, emptiness, confusion, exhaustion, relief that her mother was no longer suffering. As she celebrates her mother's life and wrestles with her own sense of loss and longing, she ponders the mystery of life, death, and God's presence every day all around us in nature as well as in relationships.

Even though we may feel isolated in our grief, we do not grieve alone, Bondi reminds us. In this firsthand account of her grief, she offers a gift to all who are grieving - comfort and help with accepting the forward and backward movements of grief and loss.

Wild Things will also be a valuable resource for those seeking to aid and comfort the grieving: pastors, counselors, chaplains, hospice workers, and family and friends of those dealing with loss.

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Wild Things: Poems of Grief and Love, Loss and Gratitude

Wild Things: Poems of Grief and Love, Loss and Gratitude

by Roberta C Bondi
Wild Things: Poems of Grief and Love, Loss and Gratitude

Wild Things: Poems of Grief and Love, Loss and Gratitude

by Roberta C Bondi

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Overview

"Grief is such a messy thing," Roberta Bondi writes in the introduction. "It fills us with many ideas and images, memories and fantasies, celebration and bitter regret all at once - all superimposed upon one another. No wonder it wears us out."

In this book of poetry and reflections on her mother's death, Bondi acknowledges her grief in the presence of God over the span of a few months. She expresses many conflicting feelings: love, pain, anger, guilt, emptiness, confusion, exhaustion, relief that her mother was no longer suffering. As she celebrates her mother's life and wrestles with her own sense of loss and longing, she ponders the mystery of life, death, and God's presence every day all around us in nature as well as in relationships.

Even though we may feel isolated in our grief, we do not grieve alone, Bondi reminds us. In this firsthand account of her grief, she offers a gift to all who are grieving - comfort and help with accepting the forward and backward movements of grief and loss.

Wild Things will also be a valuable resource for those seeking to aid and comfort the grieving: pastors, counselors, chaplains, hospice workers, and family and friends of those dealing with loss.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780835813631
Publisher: Upper Room Books
Publication date: 08/01/2014
Pages: 176
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Roberta C. Bondi is Professor Emerita at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. She will be recognized for several "firsts" at Candler School of Theology in fall 2014, including that she was the first woman who attained tenured faculty status. A graduate of Oxford University and Southern Methodist University, Roberta is married with 2 children and 2 grandchildren.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Why These Poems Matter 7

Acknowledgments 11

Introduction for My Readers 13

Chapter 1 The Experience of the Death 21

Writing as My Mother Dies 24

Mama Who Is Dying 25

I Think I May Be Grieving 26

Everything about This Hurts 28

Gentle, Gentle 29

The Eighth Day 30

Two Days Till Your Birthday 31

Two or Three Days After I Arrived 32

News 34

Not Quite Liminal 35

Chapter 2 Easter and Thereabouts 37

Clothes 40

March 26, Your Birthday 41

For Her Memorial: They Were All Easter Clothes 43

Today We Put Your Casket in the Ground 45

Holy Thursday 45

Good Friday 46

Good Friday, Still 46

Easter Saturday 47

Easter 48

Chapter 3 Family, Friends, and the Communion of the Saints 49

Brothers 52

Shelley, Here You Come 56

Linda, There Are No Words 58

Offspring 59

Lewis and Sharon 60

Friends 61

Julian of Norwich 62

Chapter 4 Time and Memory 65

Ninetieth Birthday Party 67

This Is What I Am Pondering Today 69

Time Was Always Rushing You Away 71

Blackberries 73

Today at the End of Rain 77

The Burden of Your Sadness 79

Chapter 5 Household Goods 81

Today We Packed Up 84

A Storm Last Night 85

Chapter 6 Loss 87

Every Evening About Now 89

The Memory of Scents 91

Whether Report 93

Mama, I Don't Know 93

Not So Great Today 94

Is It True What They Say? 95

Who Will Call Me Dear One? 96

Two Weeks and a Day 97

Gone 99

Chapter 7 Healing Begins 101

Two Weeks Later 104

On the Road to Cherry Log 105

Hearing Aids 107

Lady in Red 109

Mama, Look Up! 111

Spoken into Being 112

Now Go On Home 113

Looking Around 114

Chapter 8 Weaving 119

Today I Intended to Have a Respite 122

I Try Again 123

Three Days Later 125

A Warp 126

Good Day, Bad Day 128

A Fox Today 130

Life Is Coming Back 131

It Is the Oddest Thing 133

A New Weave Structure 135

Chapter 9 Wild Things 137

Wisteria 140

A Cold Rain Today 141

Violets, Thrift 142

More Flowers 142

Out on the Highway 144

Gum Trees 145

Tulip Poplars 147

Wisps of Ferns 149

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder 150

Wild 152

Chapter 10 The Great Mystery 155

Crows 157

Across the Road 158

Those Hemlocks 159

Silver 161

Gold 163

A Day for a Picnic 165

Remembering 168

The Dates of My Writing 171

About the Author 174

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