Poet essayist and biographer, Molly Peacock’s new book, The Widow’s Crayon Box, (WW Norton, 2024), mirrors the singular and amazingly spirited person that she so aptly exemplifies and channels.
After a 28-day ritual of continuous crying after her beloved husband, Michael Groden’s death in 2021, Peacock realized that the mosaic of emotions she was awash with — grief, anger, joy, devastation, and hope —were illuminating symbols that would light her new way of life forward in the most unexpected of ways. To Peacock, it felt like her very psyche was being reimagined, both brightly and subtly painted by the mirage of 152 crayons commonly found in a ubiquitous Crayola crayon box.
Her new state of widowhood did not match Peacock’s initial preconceived notions as to what this state of being looked like— in fact, what it would feel like and be like. She found that there was a discernible difference between being “a bereaved wife and a bereaved widow.” That indeed, the definitive space that is grief held some surprisingly diverse emotions.
And so, as a person whose very life is epitomized by the creativity of the written word, Peacock set about writing her personal and remarkable experiences around being a widow by way of a sequence of poems divided into four segments: After, Before, When and Afterglow.
The honesty, rawness and on-display-emotions in so many of Peacock’s poems allow those of us who have not experienced this life event a poignant view into what it is like. And for those who are going through the experience, Peacock gifts the permission to feel and experience any and all of the emotions that are being personally felt, without the guilt of not adhering to cultural and societal norms.
What a welcome relief!
The subject matter of the prose-like poems in Peacock’s The Widow’s Crayon Box are gloriously disparate and oft times witty. In The Lift, we read about the rush by Peacock and her wheelchair-bound husband to get to the elevator to push the button before a stranger can.
“But we get there! The metal coat opens to whisk us in.”
In The Plexiglas Wall, Peacock says, “I grab my guilt, zap it into a quilt.”
The similarities between being a mother and a caregiver are tabled: “How exhausting it is to mix the roles up.”
And Peacock goes even further as she explores with unabashed frankness the challenges of being a caregiver.
“Is there Stage Four Caregiver PTSD?” she wonders.
How refreshing and comforting Peacock makes it for all of us as she encourages a wide open and frank dialogue surrounding this unfamiliar state of discomfort and isolation, making it OK for those going through it to openly talk about it.
As readers move through The Widow’s Crayon Box four sequences they can’t help but engage with Peacock as she opines refreshingly on topics that live in the shadows and are usually only whispered about. But with courage, skill, empathy and sardonic wit, Peacock masterfully brings these oft times forbidden topics out into the open for us all to learn about, ponder and appreciate.
An illustrative example of this approach is Peacock’s “Deciding To End Your Life, You Thank Me,” a poem that talks about Michael’s decision to utilize MAID: Medical Assistance in Dying.
Peacock’s collection of poems —which takes us from there to now — is beautifully expressed with willingness and fearlessness, no whining allowed. Rather “the smile of routine” becomes the de rigueur attitude of open-hearted acceptance.
And while she writes that her next husband is solitude, Peacock is also playful and full of hope and anticipation around the promises that life has yet to deliver to and for her.
It is a journey Peacock says, of being lost without to being found within.
Creative Aging Books & Ideas
presents
MOLLY PEACOCK
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2 p.m.
Register for your FREE ZOOM LINK HERE: Meeting Registration – Zoom
Creative Aging Books & Ideas
presents
LUCY E. M. BLACK
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2 p.m.
Fictionalized to protect the identities of those involved, the narratives between these pages shine a spotlight on the vulnerability of youth, and in particular, young people living in heart-breaking circumstances. Upholding the work that takes place in schools and embracing those support systems which are shared between school and community is crucial to enacting lasting and positive change. Drawn from the life experiences of a career educator, this collection seeks to highlight a broad range of needs while also reinforcing the way forward through school-community partnerships.
Register for your FREE ZOOM LINK HERE: Meeting Registration – Zoom
Subscribe to Cece’s newsletter updates for the latest in Book Reviews and Author Spotlights Here: so right here, right now.
Cece is the feature cover writer for several prestigious publications both in print and online, and an informed, connected and enthusiastic book blogger at cecescott.com. Her first book, “The Love Story,” was published in 2019.
Her books, “Nunzio Tumino: A Pocketful of Dreams: An Immigrant’s Journey,” and “Helping People One Hand At A Time” are both available on amazon.ca.
Cece is also working on a book of Daily Inspirations: “My Body Parts Are On Recall But I’ve Still Got Gas in my Tank,” for AutoImmune Warriors.
