Ruthless Love

By David Sutcliffe

These poems explore loss through one man’s experience. His honesty will encourage readers to reflect on the losses they may have faced, and the vivid celebration of life will inspire us to cherish the people we say we love. The collection neither delineates the stages of grief nor is it a map by which we may discover our own precise location in the spiraling path of sorrow. Rather, it is an eyewitness account of many of the bizarre locations reached in the strange wilderness of bereavement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Jul 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781984590084

David Sutcliffe

David Sutcliffe enjoys getting around Coventry on a bike, drinking properly made tea with interesting companions and reading poetry. His world was rocked by the death of his wife Ruth in February 2018 after a short illness and his writing has been his primary means of exploring his grief. He loves spending time with his family and has four children and four grandchildren. He is a Baptist Minister, spiritual director and trainer. He is a member of Coventry Live Poets.

Book preview

Ruthless Love

DAVID SUTCLIFFE

Copyright © 2019 by David Sutcliffe.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2019906517

ISBN:                  Hardcover                          978-1-9845-9010-7

                            Softcover                             978-1-9845-9009-1

                            eBook                                  978-1-9845-9008-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 07/01/2019

Xlibris

800-056-3182

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

797085

CONTENTS

Forever In The Grief Cafe

When I Say She Is A Figure Of Blessing …

Honeylove

Snake

Reverse Animation

Holding Hands Or Making Love

If You Were Watching …

Photographs

Telecommunications

Twin Travelators

Iriana

Facing Up To It

Scattering Above Ladybower

Key In The Door

Bittersweet

Tired

Spiegel Im Spiegel

Resurrection Child

Old Times

A Coventry Curry

She’s Not Here …

Deposition

Dream After Six Months

Belly

Preparing To Resume Preaching

Right-Hand Girl

Grief Like A Drop Of Green Ink

Allium

Lost In Spaces

Last Words

High Snug

Your Clothes …

Covered

Tears At Ralphie And Poppy’s

My Heart Is

3:35am, 1st February 2018

Everyone Left With You

Ultrasound

Wells

How To Scream Without Disturbing Others

How I Met Your Mother

Urban Lovers

David, Derek, And Minus Ruth

Meals Plan, Found By The Toaster, Annotated

Ruthless Love

False Fire

Meeting With Colleagues

The Half-Birthday Party

In The Summertime

Dread

Surrender

Grey And Orange

Phantom Dawns

By The Ribble In May

Grief Birds

Anniversary

Wyming Brook

Broughton Lake

Dream After Eight Months

Mantelpiece

Finished

Christmas Lights

Twenty Nineteen

In memory of Ruth Elisabeth Sutcliffe

1959—2018

With sincere thanks to Equinox for sponsoring this publication.

Please support Pancreatic Cancer Action and help find a route to early diagnosis.

FOREVER IN THE GRIEF CAFE

What’s a grief cafe?

My five-year-old grandson is curious

about what me and his mum

have been discussing over dinner.

Well, it’s a place where we can talk and talk

about the people we love who have died.

Like Grandma?

Like Grandma.

It’s been a while now, and maybe

people who didn’t know her so well