Death Is Not the Worst Thing: Poetry

Death Is Not the Worst Thing is Carson’s third collection. His work is an honest, direct exploration of our capacity to cope with brutal challenges. He was orphaned young and had to look after his two grandmothers’ in his early twenties. Tough decisions were made. Homes were applied for and applications were accepted. There is a saying when looking after the elderly in the Old Country; you have to fly over seven times before you bury them… He did just that. His maternal grandmother spoke no English, only the words, “I love you” and “Merry Christmas.” Together they make the journey through the paths of life. In Sweden, you stop the ticking clock at the exact moment when a person dies. The house then becomes silent. The atmosphere is ripe for remembering when they were living. Carson lives in the rugged rural countryside of Canada. They heat with wood, skate on the lake and watch the seasons change as leaves fall and then bud again in the Spring. His Swedish grandmother, named after a star, was not afraid of death. She gave the greatest gift of strength to her grandson. Her words on her death bed were the catalyst for the title of this collection. These poems are a culmination of work that spans a ten-year period.

T. Anders Carson is a people's poet with Canadian and Swedish roots. His work has appeared in over thirty-five countries, including translations into French, Greek, Japanese and Swedish. He has published three chapbooks and two books of poetry entitled A Different Shred of Skin and Folding the Crane. He is a Pushcart nominee and a Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Fellow. Carson has read from his work in a prison, classrooms, disco, railway station, and a rock concerts. It is his openness and brutal honesty that has gained him a world-wide audience.