Have You Had Enough Darkness Yet?

I am sad to have these final poems of Irene McKinney, yet I am uplifted by the power of their strength and their convictions. These poems are a great gift to us from a brave and wise singer of songs -- because she was that kind of poet in the ancient sense: a weaver of tales old as words themselves -- who devoted her last days to her readers. Her poems have always delighted and for the close reader, instructed as well.These final poems do the same, only the stakes are higher and the lessons are about how to die. I don't know of anyone who has done it better, and with a more graceful purpose than Irene McKinney has done in this last book, whose title asks the question Have You Had Enough Darkness Yet? Please read these poems for the answer to that and many other important questions, and for the lessons powerfully rendered throughout these poems that are nothing short of necessary for our well being. -- Bruce Weigl