Through free verse as well as a brief exploration of traditional forms, All That We Can’t Leave Behind navigates the aftermath of a loved one’s addiction, as well as the grieving process that accompanies a multitude of milestones in the author’s life. The arc of the collection begins with the struggle with her younger brother’s heroin addiction and continues through his early death at twenty-eight. Poems serve as a cathartic process in their attempt to reconcile with the shock of untimely death and the continual grieving process that follows. Serving as a cornerstone in the collection, “What death does not prepare you for” was composed following a conversation between the author and her sister. Upon spreading their brother’s ashes into a stream in California, this sister conveyed bewilderment at the physicality of the remains, not only soft ash, but bones. Likewise, the collection’s final poem, “If there is a heaven, it is covered in snow” grapples with the ephemeral nature of death and the author’s desire to find belief in a form of afterlife.

Interspaced throughout the collection are works that highlight the feelings of loss and confusion that accompany experiences ranging from adolescence and motherhood, to abuse and healing. A fleeting piece, “Virginity” portrays a innate human experience turned on its head through religious shame, while “Vincent” marks a transition into young adulthood and of a more nuanced understanding of both the outside world and the inner workings of an artist’s mind. These poems, while they do not appear to attach themselves directly to the overarching theme, nevertheless play into the creation of a persona that is at the core of the author’s struggle with the one of the worst tragedies of her life and the lasting reverberations of such a loss. Stephanie has been published in Chronogram magazine.