This is a personal, poetic exploration of what it means for a son to care for his father in his final year of life, and what then arises after death has come, and the caring period has ended.
After his father was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, the author, SJP Dooley, became his primary carer. During the challenges of this final year, as his father lay bedridden, the author sought solace in the poems that came to him. This book is the result.
The poems in Inside Out Heart journey a broad field, from early childhood remembrances, to family life, wilderness, into the quiet of the nursing home and beyond. Nature symbols fill this work, as does a sense of wonder, and awe.
Written from the unique perspective of a son, and carer, Inside Out Heart draws us into the room. We witness the confronting challenges of suffering from a debilitating terminal illness, the heartache, the struggles and, somehow, the magic that comes at the time of the easing away from the life that has been.
Inside Out Heart Volume 2: Diary Notes provides insight into the life of the hospital, the rehab clinic, and eventually the nursing home. This is a clear, uncensored account of the unfolding of a family's confrontation with cancer. From the beginning of the year, completely unaware of what is to come, the hope for recovery, the depression when rehab is stopped, and the slow, gradual deterioration that has to be lived through.
Inside these notes you will discover the pain, and sorrow that only a terminal illness can bring. But, if you persevere, as the author did, you will also come across that ever burning light of love, of soul, that remains with us no matter the circumstances.
You are welcomed to come on this journey. One that is not easy, but one which we all must take.
