An Unexpected World

Joyce Greenberg Lott writes poignantly about her husband’s death and the time following, describing the process of living through grief and emerging into "another autumn." In "What It Would Take To Make Your Husband Happy," Lott displays her wry wit: "To cheer you up,/he turns on a ballgame/in the TV room he planned to finish last year./ You sit on a ladder; your feet on a paint can...You know/ The names of all the players and cheer on your team/ which happens to be his." And in "That Room," a spare, elegant poem of regret, she writes, "I wish/ I’d loved you/ in that room/ instead of thinking I didn’t." These are clear, accessible poems that address the experience of love, loss, and "The Unexpected World" that is always presenting itself to us.