Songs to Deborah

In his series of poems, Jock Whitehouse works through the nearly unbearable grief of the death of his soul mate and celebrates their time together. His poems capture his despair, but they also find hope that this is not the end of the oneness they shared.

In his introduction, Whitehouse includes a poem that begins, "Beloved / I gather you up, poem by poem, / each a dove that flutters into my heart." Like doves, Whitehouse's "songs" are fragile, delicate, and pure. He evokes movement and flight in his simple stanzas and shows the everlasting energy and flow of the spirit.

At times, Whitehouse can't help but once again cry out in pain, but his work moves from sorrow to serenity and even acceptance.

Whitehouse has called his collection Songs to Deborah and not Songs for Deborah because he still senses her presence all around him. Each line is an ode to her soul and to the mystery that Whitehouse still feels every day when he looks out into the garden or hears the ring of a bell. Deborah can also be found in Whitehouse's poems. His work paints a vivid portrait of the woman he loves and will never truly lose.