Editor’s Note: This book was released November 2024, and was edited by Deirdre Pulgram-Arthen, the executive director of the EarthSpirit Community. To order the book directly from the publisher, please use the link at the bottom of this post.
NORTHFIELD, MA—NatureCulture announces the release of our 20th publication, The Black River: Death Poems. This is an anthology of poems about death and dying, available in two versions: portable paperback with owl cover for people who are grieving, and all-black large format hardcover for use by death ritual leaders. 69 authors from eight countries have contributed to this anthology of 149 poems grouped into four stages: Dying, Death, Remaining, and Journeying. The poems are heavily indexed: by relationship to deceased; by themes—memory loss, pregnancy loss, long/short illness, violence/war/suicide, hope, acceptance of death; by language—most are English and there are 3 in Spanish, 1 French, and 1 Arabic; and by suggested for use in ritual. This book is non-denominational and brings together contemporary poets writing on the many stages of grief and death. 250+ pages; featuring interior page decorations by artist Martin Bridge.
The editor, Deirdre Pulgram-Arthen, has worked in service to her local, spiritual, and interfaith communities for 40 years. She has a graduate degree in counseling psychology, is a certified Death Midwife, and a published author and composer of sacred chants. She is a mother and a grandmother, which is her favorite title. Deirdre lives in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts with a small community on a 130 acre nature preserve. Deirdre believes that “By using music and poetry to reach beyond rational thought and touch the depths of our felt experience, the arts serve as passageways for transformation and healing.” She has a passion for creating deeply spiritual, personal experiences of the sacred—in recognition of ourselves as a part of the natural world, and as a way of expanding our connections within the human community. As the director of EarthSpirit, a non-profit focused on current and traditional European earth-centered spiritualities, Deirdre creates rituals for celebration, seasonal cycles and rites of passage—including the sacred passage into death.
In keeping with NatureCulture’s mission to help people be in right relationship with the rest of Nature, this book addresses human existance within physical and spiritual relationships in the physical world and beyond. Publisher Lis McLoughlin believes “Poetry has an essential role to play in helping people come to terms with complexity, and the dying process, death itself, and the subsequent experiences of people who love the deceased, are among the most complex experiences humans encounter.”
The book is organized in such a way as to try to address feelings that arise at any stage of grief or grieving, without being prescriptive or simplifying, and includes a section directly related to Our Animal Kin. It adds powerful contemporary poetic voices to the conversation about, and rituals pertaining to death. The poets offer their experiences and insights so that no one will have to rely on an internet search for a one-size-fits-all classic poem, but rather, can choose something more personally meaningful.
A book launch with panel discussion and poetry reading was held November 3, 2024, online. The book can be ordered from your favorite bookstore. To order the book directly from the publisher: https://www.nature-culture.net/the-black-river-death-poems
Artwork by Martin Bridge