Phantom Limbs - by Deirdre Fagan (Paperback)

About the Book

The speakers in Phantom Limbs traverse from early trauma to adult heartbreak to full body love and loss-all with the belief that each loss can create more love.

Book Synopsis

Part celebration, part elegy, Phantom Limbs is about living fully, arms wide open, despite or perhaps even because of repeated loss. Each depiction is grounded in survival and yet there is often unanticipated joy juxtaposed with heartbreak as the collection reveals intimate moments from childhood trauma to marriage, divorce, parenting, terminal illness, disability, caregiving, widowhood, remarriage-mortality itself. These poetic encounters are a reminder that while every literal or metaphorical birth signals an unpredictable and inevitable end, endings themselves often have the greatest capacity to impart beauty and knowledge. Just as each poem in Phantom Limbs closes with hope, the collection itself reverberates with the belief that while life may sometimes become a jagged quest for survival, it is also always something to savor and embrace.remarriage, mortality itself. These poetic encounters are a reminder that while every literal or metaphorical birth signals an unpredictable and inevitable end, endings themselves often have the greatest capacity to impart beauty and knowledge. Just as each poem in Phantom Limbs closes with hope, the collection itself reverberates with the belief that while life may sometimes become a jagged quest for survival, it is also always something to savor and embrace.