Waking to Brevity by Sarah W. Bartlett

“The poems in this book remind us that a diagnosis is much more than a clinical event. It is a blow against the intimacy of a home — and then an avenue to even greater closeness. With courage, Bartlett shares the moments and emotions of those difficult and rewarding times.”

–Stephen P. Kiernan, author of Last Rights: Rescuing the End of Life from the Medical System; also The Glass Chateau and other books

“This collection reflects the innumerable emotions that accompany life with chronic illness within loving relationships. These poems strongly communicate the intentionality both Bartlett and her husband brought to their experience, individually and together.  It is a privilege to have a peek into their world, and to be inspired by their example.”

–Zail S. Berry, MD, MPH, Palliative Medicine

“A seeringly honest expression of humanity and commitment “to accept with grace what shifts beneath us” when facing “a body’s betrayal” through progressive disease. Bartlett’s poems are in turn graceful, raw, joyful and unrelenting, to reveal an expanding and deepening relationship even as a body retreats.”

–Pamela MacPherson, author Vigil: Poetry of Presence