A Short Supply of Viability
by Annette Gagliardi
70 Poems ~ 101 pages
Price: $18.00
Publisher: The Poetry Box
ISBN: 978-1-956285-15-4
To Order: The Poetry Box
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “compassion fatigue” as the physical and mental exhaustion and emotional withdrawal experienced by those who care for sick or traumatized people over an extended period of time. Annette Gagliardi’s poetry offers compassion for the compassionate. Her poems are informed by the shift of comfort that occurs with caregivers, from the decision to provide care, to the fatigue and grace of caring for others, then to the grief and relief of saying goodbye. A Short Supply of Viability provides insight, thoughtful consideration of issues, glimpses of those being cared for, and relief from grief. It is a must read and a welcoming balm for anyone faced with becoming a caregiver, whether it be in a professional capacity or taking care of a loved one whose health is declining.
ADVANCE PRAISE:
“Gagliardi asks us to not only attend to what slips away from us in the daily, but to also behold these losses as fragments of song.”
–Juliet Patterson, author of Threnody and The Truant Lover
“Joy, pain, regret, failing health, the passing of loved ones, and more, are addressed in accessible, down-to-earth detail that doesn’t retreat from heartfelt emotion.”
–Alan Perry, author of Clerk of the Dead
“Her poems thrum with rich images of the natural world … Ultimately, she embraces death as a lover, part of the natural order, reminding us in her beautiful poems that vita brevis est.”
–Donna Isaac, author of Persistence of Vision; Footfalls; Holy Comforter; and Tommy
“… language that is straightforward and humble in the face of the journey it strives to express.”
–Morgan Grayce Willow, author of Dodge& Scramble
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Annette Gagliardi is a Minnesota writer, author most recently of “Proper Poems for Ladies … and a few naughty ones, too!” She is a contributor and co-editor of Upon Waking: 58 Voices Speaking Out from the Shadow of Abuse, 2019. Annette has poetry published in Motherwell, Wisconsin Review, American Diversity Report, Origami Poems Project, Amethyst Review, Door IS A Jar, Trouble Among the Stars, Poetry Quarterly, Sylvia Magazine, and many other online and in-print magazines. Find more of her work at https: //annette-gagliardi.com/
FROM THE BOOK:
A Short Supply of Viability
by Annette Gagliardi
I am the trashcan of detritus filling the hours
of life–the taste of tedium. I am your unmade bed.
I am the parked car idling in the winter–running
engine using up gas going nowhere.
I am the chauffer collecting dry cleaning, mail,
medicine, hair stylist, groceries, mending, car repairs.
I am the Hausfrau gathering these essentials
rearranged once at home. They remain only moments,
then dissipate like condensation in the morning sun.
I tidy pieces of possibilities, spending days,
one heartbeat at a time, suffusing seconds of existence
with minutiae, loading my life with trivialities,
caring for those who need, until I am left
wondering if this constant consideration will sustain.
Will changing furniture or food provide the succor needed?
Until I am left wondering why this treadmill continues
to support us–with vitality
in such short supply.
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