Struggle, struggle.... ode to influential poet

              Letter to Jane Kenyon
                        (1947-1995)
 
Jane, there’s no way to deny great weight,
no way to stop a closing curtain or
prevent the power of separation.
At least that’s what I tell myself
on dismal days.
 
My marriage had failed. It was finished.
No longer must I untie knots.
At last, I could howl or cry alone.
I could go to pieces, be an open wound.
 
That’s how it was when my friend handed me
a book with your name on it. She said
you’d struggled against emotions and disease,
that you’d died but your truth lived on.
I reached for a hug and your book.
 
Jane, I consumed it in one night. That’s how
desperate I was.  You and I met, one poem
after another. A week later, I reread the pages.
How well you knew my heart.
 
You openly spoke of yourself as the sick wife.
You recognized life was worth the fight against
depression and insomnia. I was all ears.
You helped lift limits from my mind
and replace it with hair swinging free.  Thank you.
 
                                    love,
                                        Pat
 
*Book: Otherwise by Jane Kenyon

Pat.

I love the raw emotion of this poem.  

What do you actually need in the final two stanzas?  I lobby you cut them.  Let the poem end with a hug.

I would cut the first word since it is in the title.

If you need information about "reading the book," let it exist BEFORE the "hug" line.

TS

              Letter to Jane Kenyon
            (1947-1995), author of Otherwise
 
There’s no way to deny great weight,
no way to stop a closing curtain or
prevent the power of separation.
At least that’s what I tell myself
on dismal days.
 
My marriage had failed. It was finished.
No longer must I untie knots.
At last, I could howl or cry alone.
I could go to pieces, be an open wound.
 
That’s how it was when my friend handed me
your poetry book. She said you’d struggled
against emotions and disease,
that you’d died but your truth lived on.
I reached for a hug.

Pat

I miss having "book" in the last line.  What about:

I rose for your book and a hug.  

(maybe her truth "lives" on)  I like present tense as though she's still alive through her words in you/persona.

Todd

Yes, I like those changes.

One word at a time....