Poetry: Mariposa, Opioid Abatement Poems
Poetry: Mariposa, Opioid Abatement Poems
In this lean, luminous, heart-wrenching collection, Laverne Zabielski tells two parallel stories, one harrowing, the other quietly hopeful. One is the descent of a beloved adult daughter into heroin addiction and homelessness, along with her mother’s grief that threatens to shade into despair. The other story is the mother’s journey toward a heroic self-discipline: keeping to herself the questions she’s burning to ask, refusing to impose her own desires and opinions on her daughter. She treats her, even in her worst moments, with a radical respect. The mother’s salvation, to the extent that it comes, is in the making of art: beautiful creations of hand-dyed silk and, by the way, this book. “Mariposa” is more than an urgent call to action in the opioid crisis ravaging our communities. It’s an act of self-deliverance, a survival guide that will shine like a beacon in the hearts of desperate parents everywhere who fight to stay whole in the face of this silent epidemic of pain in our midst.
—Kevin Nance, author of “Even If” and “Midnight”
