Description

“Ilmar Lehtpere’s collection, Exiles, is a powerful account of his wife, Sadie’s, experience of Alzheimer’s and her final days as a victim of the Covid virus. In a series of short, direct poems, we feel the heart breaking pain of a person who lived by words being taken by silence, and of the love that struggles to be sustained. There are moments of joy – a smile, a phrase re-found, a hand held so tightly – but these are poems that narrate the awful truth of memory loss, an anguish beyond poetry. The final section – ‘Gasping for Air’ – is almost unbearably painful, leavened only by the strong, quiet kindness of some of the medical staff. This is a collection that reminds us of the fragility of all our relationships, but also of the capacity of love to continue long, long into the future. We should be grateful if has been written.”
Jonathan Davidson, poet, writer