The Last Bed by Lee Varon

“Lee Varon writes moving poetic cadences pulsing with heart beats of desperation and hope through powerful imagery and reflection of what The Last Bed personifies to a parent of a child struggling with addiction.”
–Maryanne Frangules, Executive Director, Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery (MOAR)

“In The Last Bed, Lee Varon chronicles a mother’s journey of hope and loss in response to her son’s addiction, a story all too familiar but also too often untold or ignored. Varon is especially skilled at creating the tetter-totter of hope and despair ridden by those whose beloveds are addicted.  Driving her son to detox, she sees a rainbow over a junkyard and asks “What’s this rainbow for?/God blessing your next try or//God bringing you home?”  In another poem, she tells us “The addict’s mother is hidden/in the fine print.” Varon brings both the addict’s mother and the addict out of the fine print and the impersonal headlines, honoring them with piercing honesty and grace.”

–Kathleen Aguero, author of World Happiness Index

“Being aware myself of the struggles of recovery, and the miracles within, Lee Varon gives us a no-hold-barred view of it—from Narcan, to rehab, to holidays gained, and days ruined and to God existing within them. This book is full of heartbreak and soaring emotion, like riding a roller coaster, overwhelmed by the G-forces, yet fearing for your life.”

–Timothy Gager, author of Joe the Salamander, and 2020 Poems