After the Rites and Sandwiches by Kathy Pimlott

Centred on a sudden accidental death--its shocking actuality, the aftermath, the admin--Kathy Pimlott's third pamphlet is an honest, lyrical and nuanced journey through the complexity of bereavement. As the world around her continues on--moths remain attracted to lights, Christmas comes and goes--Pimlott lives with the irreplaceable absence that follows the loss of a partner. Amid the pain and emotion is a streak of wry humour at the mundanity of settling affairs and a powerfully personal trajectory of moving through grief rather than moving on. Across poems that take stock of the things people leave behind and the sometimes-painful memories of a long and textured marriage, After the Rites and Sandwiches tracks the rollercoaster of grief, guilt and regret without losing sight of the enduring salve of love.