In her first poetry collection in more than a decade, celebrated novelist and poet Lynn Crosbie creates a sustained and confessional record of her fatherâs illness.
The Corpses of the Future is a sustained, confessional new collection of poems by Lynn Crosbie. It tells the story of her fatherâs battle with frontotemporal dementia and blindness following a stroke. The poems chronologically recount the poetâs conversations and time with her father and capture his still-astonishing means of communicating. The bookâs title is his sardonic remark. Crosbie considers dementia to be a symbolic language, and as such similar to poetry. The authorâs attempts to understand her fatherâs distress, pain, fear, and brave love are assisted by her understanding of the ânegative capabilityâ required of readers of poetry.
This is a harrowing book, with moments of joy and even levity. It is a collection of poetry about love, and loveâs persistence, even under the most unspeakable circumstances.