At the age of twenty, Cheryl Wilder got behind the wheel when she was too drunk to drive. She emerged from the car physically whole. Her passenger, a close friend, woke up from a coma four months later with a life-changing brain injury. Anything That Happens follows her journey from a young adult consumed by shame and self-hatred to a woman she can live with... and even respect. Along the way, Wilder marries, has a son, divorces, and cares for her dying mother. Anything That Happens examines what it takes to reconcile a past marked by a grave mistake, a present as caregiver to many, and a future that stretches into one long second chance.
***
Until I was twenty, I believed anything wouldn't happen to me. ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS
***
(@Press53, 25 March 2021, ebook, 82 pages, #ARC from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 5 April via @PoeticBookTours)
***
***
This is a new poet for me. Anything That Happens is a fantastic piece of work, an impressive blend of light and dark. At it's core is a sequence of poems about a life-altering car crash the poet lived through which left her friend brain-damaged. These poems such as the title poem, Slipped 1, Slipped II and Sipped III are raw, visceral and almost painful to read. I really felt the pain of the poet's experiences. There are also poems about life, love, expectations, failure, recovery and healing. Anything That Happens left me breathless.
