THE MUSIC OF THE SOUL'S GIVE AND TAKE

<p>This poetry collection continues the story begun in <em>A Square Foot of Sky: a reawakening in words and images 2019-2021</em> after Anne Gruenberg's incarceration in a high-security prison in 2008 and the thirteen years she spent thereafter in psychiatric institutions and care homes. </p><p>We all want stories to end happily - and Anne's friends and family hoped she would find some peace after her Absolute Discharge in 2021. But sometimes the pattern is 'relapse and resume' rather than 'recovery and resolution'. </p><p>Anne has written these poems with great difficulty on her mobile phone. They have given her a lifeline and a means of communicating with the world. Many of them speak of spiritual matters and have a translucent beauty; others express deep anger regret and grief. They shed light on her journey and her inner life.</p><p>Clare Park's remarkable photographs capture Anne's beguiling presence her dark humour and her vulnerability. They are also 'in conversation' with the poems - images and words enhancing one other. </p>