There’s a shadow looming over If You Have to Go—the poignantly titled and brilliant collection of poetry from Katie Ford—and it’s the dissolution of Ford’s marriage. Each poem within the collection is either softly shaded by the event or completely subsumed in its darkness.
She grasps for meaning in small objects, flickering moments of peace amid the pain, and communion with the divine. That none of these seem to provide solace only makes her journey that much more devastating and beautiful. (She reads from the book on Sunday, November 11, at Hugo House.)