Indelible Shadow by Sandra Berris

“The poems in Indelible Shadow are both tender and haunting in their brevity.  This stands in stark contrast to the enormity of what has happened.  This is an intensely personal collection of poems.  As the reader emotionally barrels towards the final poems, the central focus of the book is revealed in the striking couplet, “can something be hidden in plain sight”.  Yet the reader is left with hope.  This is a remarkable and powerful book that is not for dipping into but well-worth reading from cover to cover to understand the story of an unformed life cut short in a blink.”

–Clare Chu, author of The Sand Dune Teacher and Objects Heavy in This Life

“Suicide is uniquely painful for those left to grieve.  The bold poems in Indelible Shadow resonate with the confusion and heartbreak of the survivors, their anger and even guilt, described with soul-searching precision.  Line by line these poems reveal to us not only the depth of their loss, but also lift us toward hope and even joy.”

–Marsha Portnoy, author of Vinnie’s Wife and After Tono’s Party

“In her new collection of poems, Sandra Berris guides the readers through the grief of a small community rocked by sudden loss.  In so doing, she captures the singular tragedy that inspired the poems in vivid and heartbreaking terms, and she also ensures that the death at that center of the poems becomes emblematic of our national crisis of teen suicide.  While deftly exploring the arid landscape of sadness, anger, guilt, and confusion, in her capable hands, Berris gently leads us into the more curative liminal territory of reflection, acceptance, and hope.  Ultimately, these poems of witness and compassionate presence deliver the consolation we seek in all great art.”

–David Denny, author of Some Divine Commotion and Sometimes Only the Sad Songs Will Do