Another Slice of Chocolate Cake

Being in touch with feelings--naming ones stirred up by a loss--can be critical in terms of moving ahead productively. Loss comes in many different packages: losses of relationship whether by death, divorce, or some other means; loss of status as per experiencing retirement or down-grading with respect to jobs; material loss whether homes, savings accounts, etc.; loss of function whether declining health, loss of a body part, etc. Whatever the loss there is an accompanying need to grieve. Wright's own experience of a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis has been her most challenging loss in life. Her poetry is honest in terms of the feelings she has faced. Instead of glossing over the challenges of loss, she attacks them head-on. This is especially true in terms of the conversations she has with God. Her desire is to grant permission for readers to be equally honest in terms of feelings they encounter with respect to their losses in life.