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Stars in the Deepest Night
After the Death of a Child
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STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT - After the Death of a Child is a collection of poetry written after my twenty-one year old daughter Lori died in a car accident in 1991. Because the poems give words to the intense range of emotions experienced after the death of a child, they offer solace to bereaved parents as well as help their friends and families better understand what they are going through.
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Samples of poems from STARS IN THE DEEPEST
NIGHT:
Memento Mori
We hadn't any warning,
the night it all went mad.
We knew not yet of quicksand,
or lives like broken glass.
The day was drenched in beauty,
the mountain sky of blue.
Pine needles had been cleared away,
cabin safe now summer through.
Good food and friends-shared laughter,
planning for the evening's fun,
then officers in the doorway,
bringing news that took the sun.
Telephone calls to parents,
legs like rubber, shaking so,
"How do we tell her sister?
Fifteen, much too young to know."
The long drive down the mountain,
midnight knock in such distress.
When she saw us, she gasped, "Lori?"
crying, hugged her, we said, "Yes."
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You left us so quickly, The sadness, the anger, |
I hear it again and again,
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The thought of being thankful
These heavy shrouds of blackness I must, I must acknowledge, Though she's gone from us forever
So I stop the cheerful gathering,
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It can't possibly be Christmas Though I try to put on armor I pray for strength to do it, Then I find at last the answer: |
Freefalling
World crashing,
destroying us.
Life melting,
ashes, dust.
Half of my motherhood,
gone.
Gaping hole in existence,
so wrong.
I thought I would die;
I did.
Wounded, deep inside,
I hid.
No ground beneath,
to stand.
Falling through space,
no land.
Forgetting to breathe,
no air.
Finding myself,
nowhere.
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I can't make small talk anymore. Yes The cherished talk I'm drawn to's
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Dear Friend: Please put it behind you,
Dear Friend: The person you still
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Tonight we cried together, When all my words are sad ones, Others think to cheer me Instead you burst me open - |
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We held them in our parent arms The cord attached to children, Our children now inside us - If we open to the knowledge, When they show us nature's rainbows,
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Candles flame in darkness, My daughter, like the candles, As I light the candles, As her light joins my lights,
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Reviews of Stars in the Deepest Night
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by Audre Hallum Pacifica, California STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT - After the Death of a Child by Genesse Bourdeau Gentry, Writers Club Press, 1999. In the diminutive but powerful book of poetry "Stars in the Deepest Night," written after the death of her daughter Lori, Genesse Gentry has provided readers with a universal experience, a poignant journey into the heart and soul of a grieving parent. Her bittersweet yet profound insight into the magnitude of this unfathomable loss, covers every nuance of the bereavement condition. This book is a lyrical and beauteous tribute to Lori, yet also a dictum of hope for those of us who are left behind. At the unexpected and complicated loss of my son Kjell, I struggled for meaning in a world suddenly gone insane. Besides attending both group and individual therapy, I read everything written about the loss of a loved one -- from the great masters and the Bible to the "how-to" books. Fortunately and as if by magic, Genesse Gentry, whom I contacted for information about The Compassionate Friends, sent me a hand typed, home-bound copy of her yet unpublished work. At first reading, I was astounded. The sheer lyricism of her words mirrored my deepest feelings brought to fruition and set to music. The haunting expression of her pain set mine free and I wept copiously and gratefully for this cleansing experience. Each new page highlighted thoughts and feelings I was then incapable of putting into words. And Genesse, through her symbols of love, provided insight and clarification to my confused and befuddled emotions. To read this book is to therefore embark upon a journey which can lead you from the agony of your loss to the redemption of your spirit. This is not a book to be be read once and set aside. It has an enduring quality of mercy and can be turned to frequently for solace of the soul. As you empathize with the author's grief over losing Lori, you will also weep for your own wounding. You will begin to understand not only that your are no longer alone, but also that your loss is so far reaching that it permeates every facet of you being. You accompany Genesse Gentry on her highly personal path from stultifying numbness to her gradual reawakening to feeling alive again. To partake of Genesse Gentry's hymnal, "Stars in the Deepest Night," is akin to entering a cathedral. You are first awe struck by its beauty, then overwhelmed by its sacred ground and ultimately redeemed by its abiding faith. This book is in essence an act of love for Lori, but it is also a triumph of the human spirit, which can lead us all from the deepest night of our despair into the enduring light cast upon us by those we have loved and lost. |
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by Sascha Wagner STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT - After the
Death of
a Child by Genesse Bourdeau Gentry, Writers Club Press, 1999. SO SHE MAY HEAR Hillside walk Every breath Bright sun, blue sky, As a bereaved mother, I knew at once what she meant, how she felt. She speaks to grieving parents everywhere. This book is for the heart. Grief has many faces - from the sadness for "small" losses to the experience of the most extreme. Among the latter, grief over the loss of one's child is unmitigated anguish - a sorrow almost beyond words. STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT reaches out to express this unspeakable tragedy in an open, genuine form. There is clarity in the author's lines, the courage to share with readers a deep insight into the face of her grief after her daughter died. Gentry's secret is mainly that she intuitively understood how many things grievers have in common. Her pain and her healing are revealed in bittersweet memories, crystallized into words from a poet's mind. Thus her personal experience, enormous in its severity, opens the doors to comfort and healing of other bereaved parents. Gentry's grieving and healing words simultaneously reach into her heart and into yours. She comments that these poems were a gift to her, and I believe that they are an equally great gift to us. --------Sascha Wagner is the author of three books of poetry for bereaved parents, "The Sorrow and the Light," "Wintersun" and her newest, just published, "For You, From Sascha." She is also the founder and editor of the quarterly publication, L.A.R.G.O (Life After Repeated Grief: Options). |
What readers say about STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT
| Patti Harrington, The Compassionate
Friends,
San Francisco, California:
"This book is truly like someone looking
right
into my heart and soul and saying what I find so difficult to say and
feel.
More importantly, by sharing it with others close to me, it
allowed them
to perhaps see what I am going through."
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Dr. Joann Jelly, Ed.D., Silverlakes,
California:
"Genesse Gentry, whose poetry expresses
her painful,
evolving mourning process, has provided all of us who grieve a role
model
of courage and hope. Through her writing, she shows us courage to
remain
conscious in our hurting, and hope, that though difficult days
continue,
our loving relationship with our child will never die. Further
she guides
us over recurring waves of grief to a strong calm. Listen to the
cadence
of her words and know you are not alone. Genesse Gentry has been
there,
and is with us."
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Donna Curling, Roswell,
Georgia:
"When my sister died, I found that
losing a sibling
is like experiencing multiple deaths. . . the death of a beloved
brother
or sister, and the death of your parents as you have always known them.
This book has helped me to better understand both the new person
my mother
has become and the importance of allowing her to say and do the things
she needs to do and say in order to heal."
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| Nanette Jacobs, Mill Valley,
California: "After the death of my young daughter, I felt like a raw and open wound. Genesse's poetry was my salve. It gave validation to my pain, and 'The Promise' gave me a reason to go on."
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Catharine Reeve, journalist and
photographer,
Berkeley, California: "The poems in this beautiful volume touch many facets of the shattering grief and long journey into healing that we who have had a child die encounter. I am grateful to Genesse Gentry for sharing her journey in such a heartfelt, open way. Her wonderful poems continue to help me in my own healing, and I recommend them often, not only to other bereaved parents, but also to anyone who is involved in helping bereaved families."
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Joyce Andrews, Sugar Land, Texas,
National
Board Member, The Compassionate Friends, Inc.: "I love Genesse's lyrical, intelligent verse. She names the emotions and explains the encounters of her early grief with such honesty and candor that they are instantly recognizable to me . . . and will be, I suspect, to bereaved mothers everywhere."
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| Marianne Lino, The Compassionate
Friends,
Marin and San Francisco, California: "My first thought upon reading Genesse's poems, was that every word, every thought written, expressed so perfectly and succinctly the feelings of the bereaved and broken hearted parent! I immersed myself in the beautiful and inspired truth of Genesse's poetry." |
Fred Schaefer, The Compassionate
Friends,
San Francisco, California: "What reached me on many levels abut your poems was that they are also prayers; they are soft mirrors of your soul; they are psalms. Using stars as the metaphor at once symbolizes the child - everyone's child - and the spirit love that your poetry sings. You and your poetry have honored us all. Thank you." |
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There are three ways to purchase STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT: 1) STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT may
be ordered from Centering Corporation through their website: Centering Corporation or by phone:
402.553.1200. 2) STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT may be ordered at your local bookstore. If they say it has to be backordered, tell them to do so. It should be a matter of a few days for them to get it for you. 3) For a signed copy of STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT, you may copy and print the order form, then fill it out and send it via regular mail with your check payable to: Genesse Gentry 3) You may also order STARS IN THE DEEPEST NIGHT: directly from the publisher
(iUniverse.com)
online at: Or it may be
ordered online at: amazon.com
(This is also the site for borders.com.) |
E-mail Genesse Gentry at gbgentry@aol.com