Four Humid Months

There were always fires in my marriage. Fires that were never quite put out and wetted down by tears, before starting up once again with even more ferocity and vengeance. The atmosphere in the house was uncomfortably humid as a result of this exhausting fire-water cycle. Towards the end, the humidity became intolerable. There are only so many fires you can start before there’s nothing left to burn. And that’s what happened. There was no big bang ending – just nothing left. Four Humid Months is a deeply personal reflection of my marriage and the four months we spent living together as a married couple. This book is many things - a time capsule and bridge, as well as the voice of the girl who experienced it all. Most importantly perhaps, it’s a story - a story about how my marriage held me, how I held it and how it shaped my life so that now 'I look forward to ‘diving in heart first / and coming back up enough’ (Gratefulness - part III). While each poem may be read, understood and hopefully enjoyed in its own right, they also work together, in order, to trace a story of love, loss and growth told in eighteen individual parts.