Review of In the Blink of an Eye by Steven M. Darter

 Review of In the Blink of an Eye by Steven M. Darter

Steven M. Darter’s In the Blink of an Eye is a deeply personal tribute to his wife, Diane, who died suddenly after 53 years of marriage. Through poems written both before and after her death, he lets readers see the life they shared and what it felt like when that life changed.

The poems written while Diane was alive are full of ordinary pleasures: waking beside her, holding hands, playing games, watching basketball, and spending time with their grandchildren. Those details give the later poems much of their force. When Darter writes about returning to an empty house or touching Diane’s side of the bed, we understand exactly whose presence he misses.

His account of grief is candid. He writes about loneliness, regret, fear, faith, and the unsettling feeling that Diane might still walk through the door. He also describes moments when a memory begins to bring a smile alongside the tears. The book does not suggest that grief follows a tidy path or that gratitude makes loss disappear.

Darter’s style is direct and sometimes repetitive. Readers looking for tightly crafted poetry may wish some poems covered less familiar ground. Here, though, the repetition also reflects a mind returning again and again to the person it loves. The memorial remarks, family memories, and comments from Diane’s friends help her emerge as more than the subject of her husband’s sorrow: she was a teacher, musician, grandmother, neighbor, and friend who mattered to many people.

This is an intimate book about a particular marriage. Its honesty may offer companionship to readers grieving a spouse or another deeply loved person, while its earlier poems are a reminder to notice the small moments that make a life together.

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