Rating: ★★★★★ out of 5!
‘Dear Body' is a poetry pamphlet written by Hannah Hodgson. It was Hannah herself who got me interested in poetry through her YouTube channel where she shares videos of book and poetry reviews as well as sharing her own story of living with a life limiting illness and being a palliative care patient and hospice user.Hannah's YouTube channel is linked here.
I've started to read other poetry but 'Dear Body' was the first piece of poetry that I actually understood and I liked the the different styles in which Hannah had written her poems to exaggerate the topic of the poem, such as the poem 'Processing' where there where very spaces in-between each word to emphasis the difficulty in processing thoughts due to poor concentration and focus.
As well as 'Dear Body' containing poetry I could understand and grasp it was also a collection of poems I could relate to on a very personal level so the poetry collection was even more emotive. It help creatively speak out my own thoughts, feelings and experiences of living with challenging complex health problems. Of how disability is visually left out because it is not a picture of beauty, the marks and scars left on ones own body, the frustrations of living in a body that is broken and a mind that struggles to function, the invisibility of our symptoms and so much more.
Hannah also guest blogged for me a while back and in her post she shared one of her poems 'Invisible'. The post by Hannah which was shared for World Poetry Day can be found here.
If you're interested in poetry or are new to poetry, or to those who are chronically ill or disabled and want to read something relatable then I would defiantly say that 'Dear Body' is a good poetry pamphlet to turn to.
You can purchase 'Dear Body' from Wayleave Press for £5 - link here.