Description

By Helen Care

ISBN: 978-1-84991-760-5
Published: 2012
Pages: 94
Key Themes: Mental Health, Poetry, personal experience, songer/songwriter, hope

Description

Foreword by Jem Price

Helen died at home in December 2011. It seems that her reserves of hope had run dry. I dearly wish that Helen was still with us but know that she has now found some kind of peace. Helen had read and approved the Foreword which follows. Indeed, she had sent the entire manuscript to her publisher and was really pleased that it had been accepted for publication. I suppose that I could have gone through this Foreword, changing is to was but I like to think that Helen still is. So, this is for you, Helen. Cheers, my dear.

I have known Helen longer than pretty much anyone else. I knew Helen before she was mad or at least before she let people know she was mad. I knew Helen before all those professionals caring and uncaring whose crazy paving shes crossed. Anyway, the point is that I know Helen pretty well because she is an old mate of mine. And yet I have learnt much more about her from these poems.

Helens first book was called With Anger Comes Hope but I think this collection actually conveys that anger even more effectively. Here, she is externalising her anger, voicing it, almost naming names. Screaming at the real sinners they know who they are, swearing at the insecurities and struggles they left her with, sharing something of the fucking awful nightmares that they caused. As you may be able to tell, it makes me pretty angry too, on the quiet.

I think Helen thinks too much. I think I understand why she thinks as much as she does but I hope that one day her head will be uncluttered by thoughts of goodness and evil, of perfect love and feared rejection, of life and death. There are some one-syllable themes in this book that most of us should be able to relate to, love, lies, loss, fear, drink, drugs. Given the subject matter, I found some surprisingly helpful hints among these pages. Helens words are matter of fact because they are a matter of fact. This book isnt a laugh but you do need to know that Helen is thoughtful and gifted and very funny.