To the You Who Used to Be
The poems in this lyrical collection trace a path from Patricia McKernon Runkle’s childhood to her mother’s young womanhood and eventual decline into dementia. They hold the sorrow of losing her to “the long silence of falling” and the wonder of a flawless presence amid the wreckage of memory loss. For even when her mother’s memory had seemed to vanish, she had flashes of lucidity when she was unmistakably herself.
In these pages, Patricia becomes a witness and companion as she explores loss and wholeness in the distilled wisdom of free verse and crystalline brevity of haiku.
Available now from Shanti Arts Press and Amazon
“Having lost my mother to Alzheimer’s and a dear friend to Lewy Body Dementia, I opened To the You Who Used to Be with anticipation. Patricia McKernon Runkle’s poems brought immediate comfort and perspective, processing loss in a way that opens up a shared space for healing. I will return to these poems again and again, grateful for their beauty and grace.”
— Jean LeBlanc, author of Terrible Terrain: Poems Inspired by the Life of Lavinia Dickinson