The Resounding Humanity of Sarah Kay’s ‘No Matter the Wreckage’

“You may not even crack the spine.
You may place this on the bookshelf,
or worse, under a stack of papers.
You may forget it and regift it later
to someone as a Secret Santa.
I will never know.”

— from “The First Poem in the Imaginary Book”

I’ll admit that Sarah Kay’s No Matter the Wreckage has indeed been a resident of my bookshelf for too long — though it was never forgotten. Every time I perused the shelves, I would notice it sitting there and remember, Oh, yes, I need to read that. Then I would place it somewhere nearby with the intention cracking open and turning its pages, only to have it slip out of sight as my busy days shifted my attention.

In a way, though, the delay was a blessing, as the beautiful words on these pages feel like they have come to me at the perfect time.

I’ve been longing for a break from the rush and stress of my life, some time away to connect with myself and my creativity. So, a couple of weeks ago, I rented a cabin in the woods and developed a mini-writer’s retreat that would allow me to disconnect from social media and other distractions, providing the quiet I desired. (I’m planning to share more about this in a later post.)