‘When we’re ill we’re forced to recognise that we’ve become another person – unfamiliar, frail and mortal. The adjustment is painful and it’s well-nigh impossible to find the words to describe how alien our sick self seems. These poems magically supply the images and emotions that help us to accept our inexpressible vulnerability.’ Dr Miriam Stoppard

‘This book of poems is for all of us who go through illness, deal with doctors, hospitals, and experiences such as bereavement and ageing, and who struggle to find language to describe the suffering we have to go through. Medical language baffles and alienates us. It’s a harsh, unforgiving vocabulary that often seems to bear no relationship to our own emotional predicament.

In this uplifting anthology we see how poetry can give us metaphors and images to help us understand our feelings and communicate them to people around us. This is a book that should be in every waiting-room, and should be by the bed of every GP and consultant. It may inspire you to write poetry, and also help you to find order in the chaos of ill health. By giving us words, poetry can help cure us.’ Julia Darling & Cynthia Fuller