Category: grief poetry

Preparing the Paperback – Update 5.5.

by Jen Elvy, posted in books, grief and loss, grief poetry, update

This week saw more positive feedback on SOCial Media, my first review and a bit of preparation for the release of the paperback

When I put my poetry together to make a collection, I use the Kindle Create App. This lends itself very well to Kindle books but you do find that there are some differences for the paperback. I knew that there wouldn’t be too much adaptation involved for this one but I needed to see how the paperback would look so, as I’ve done for every book but my first, I ordered a proof copy from Amazon. This copy is designed for that final check and has a big strip across it saying ‘Not for resale’.

The proof copy for You Are Not Alone arrived on Wednesday and I made the necessary edits (There weren’t many.) and finally uploaded the latest copy, checked the preview and hit publish for the paperback. I knew for a fact there were people waiting for it and I was glad to tell them the following day it was ready.

I just have to wait until tomorrow when my new copy hopefully arrives and I will do my traditional photo with the book and announce its publication. I had hoped to do this yesterday but there’s been a bit of a delay. I did make a bit of a low-key announcement on some socials.

I think I will pop back on and upload the photo tomorrow and give you the link. However, if you can’t wait until then, you can get to the paperback version via the link I posted last week.

I now have two very positive reviews as well as some amazing feedback on social media for the poems I’ve posted. It leaves me very humbled.

I’m going to close with a poem that isn’t in the book but is a grief poem I wrote a few years back on the anniversary of my dad’s death.

Another Year

Another year where I call your name
And you won’t be able to answer
Another year where I see your face and hear your voice
But only in my heart
Another year with so much to tell you
But you can’t be here to listen
Another year with so many questions
And no answers
Another year wanting to feel normal
But feeling so very sad
Another year without you in my life
But you are in my heart always.

jen Elvy

Catch Up

by Jen Elvy, posted in grief poetry, poetry, update

It’s been a while since I wrote on here and I can see the traffic has been good so I was thinking maybe I should be writing here more often, providing you with more posts. So I’ll try and do a post once a week to update you all.

I’ve been working on a poetry collection about grief over the last few months. The title will be You Are Not Alone and that is the message I want to convey. We all go through grief at various points in our lives and we all deal with it in different ways. It’s important to realise that we are not alone in our feelings and others have been there before.

The poems I have shared have had a great response on social media with so many people saying how the words resonated with them. That is my biggest wish through all of this, that people who are in immense pain through grief find comfort in the words I use and it warms my heart to hear when it happens.

I have still been writing other poetry, especially paranormal haiku poems that I write under a pen name. I actually set up a prompt challenge on socials to inspire paranormal poetry but there have been no takers yet.

I also wrote a fantasy poem this week.

I will close with a poem from my new book, You Are Not Alone. See you next week.

I wonder

I wonder if, in heaven,
You’re greeted at the gates
And members of your family
Gather ’round in wait.

I wonder if, in heaven,
You see your special place
Or places that so long ago
Somehow fell from grace.

I wonder if, in heaven
You eat just what you like,
Instead of having to jump on
An underused exercise bike.

I wonder if, in heaven,
You sit upon a cloud
And watch over your loved ones,
Feeling very proud.

Jen Elvy