The reader might be justified in thinking that the M in the title of Colette Bryce's new poetry collection could stand for Mortality, Mother, Mourning, or the spontaneous and cathartic practice of the writer's "morning pages"--until they reach the book's arresting central sequence. Addressed to "M," a sibling who has suddenly died, this three-part poem depicts the experience of unexpected bereavement, and the altering effect such events have on the living. Bryce harnesses her characteristic insight, forensic eye, and deeply-woven music to deeply moving ends. As the book unfolds, it becomes clear that her other subjects (of family, travel, history and ageing) all orbit the gravitational center of The M Pages. This is a book about what--for reasons of propriety, self-censorship, fear, and the limits of our knowledge--we can and cannot say about one of the most profound events we can face.
