THE STARTLED HEART
Ghazal Variations on Loss
Eve Joseph
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Oolichan Books, 2004
57 pp
ISBN 0-88982-191-7
RRP $CAN 15.95
Available from oolichan@island.net
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Ghazal? Not in my O.E.D. But Google found it at poetrynet.
So what is a Ghazal? It is a poem of 5 to 15 couplets, written in a particular form, according to traditions originating in ancient Urdu and Persian.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, we can talk about the book. This is a wonderful collection of 45 ghazals that are a celebration of life, and death, written
by a counselling psychologist who works at the Victoria Hospice in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her professional experience and insight made the poems, for me, feel authentic and real.
If you like poetry, or you want something to help you think about what you do everyday, buy this little volume.
The way the man dying of leukemia, said:
Death has been here three nights
And tonight I think we’ll sleep together.
Roger Woodruff,
Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia
June 2004
