Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

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I have just read this book recommended by my tutor. It is a strange and poignant poetical tale. There were some parts of it that resonated with me, in particular, where the crow suggests a game:
” ‘You two boys’, he said, ‘must each build, here on the floor – a model of your Mother. Just as you remember her! And whichever of you builds the best model will win. Not the most realistic, but the best, the truest. ” (pp.28-29)
I felt that in some ways this is the creative process I followed with my Crow Mother portrait, creating work that expressed her true essence or that which was experienced by me., rather than her likeness.
Later in the book when it talks of moving on there is a passage that reads:
” Moving on as a concept is for stupid people, because any sensible person knows that grief is a long- term project. I refuse to rush. The pain that is thrust upon us let no man slow or speed or fix. (p99)
Succinct and truthful. It comes in waves and we never get passed it but learn to carry it. We grieve in proportion to the love we felt.

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