Afterlife - Michael Dhyne

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Résumé :
Grief fractures and scars. In Afterlife Michael Dhyne picks up the shattered remains, examining each shard in the light, attempting to find meaning--or at least understanding--in the death of his father.

If I tell the story in reverse, / it still ends with nothing, he writes. Yet it is in the telling that Dhyne's story--and the world he creates--is filled. The echoes of his childhood loss reverberate through adolescence and adulthood, his body, the bodies of those he loves, and the world around them--from Bourbon Street to dark and lonely bedrooms, from grief support groups to heartachingly beautiful sunsets.

How we are shaped by our experiences, and how we refuse to be shaped, is at the heart of the poet's search for memory, meaning, and love--in all its forms and wonders. This bold and tender debut is a rousing reminder that poetry and art can heal.
It's one thing to remember, another to not forget. A girl says,
Can I start with my birth? and I ask her if anything happened before that, her eyes bright with wonder. --Excerpt from 95 South

Biographie:
Michael Dhyne received an MFA from the University of Virginia, where he was awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize; he is currently pursuing a master's degree in social welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. His work has been supported by the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Community of Writers, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. His poetry has appeared in The Cincinnati Review, Denver Quarterly, Gulf Coast, The Iowa Review, The Spectacle, and elsewhere.