The Long Good-bye by Bruce Gorden

These are personal poems, direct from the heart of a wounded poet. Gorden became the primary caregiver of his wife as she suffered from Alzheimer's disease. As a poet, he funneled his experiences into his art, and in doing so, worked through the emotional trauma of caring for a loved one during her slow decline and death.

Through a poetical lens, as both a caregiver and husband, Gorden reveals both joy and pain in the face of the body's cruel betrayal, juxtaposed against the profound love and friendship of the soul. These poems are suddenly painful and quickly tender, each with its story to tell, moments of profound change, sometimes with a dull ache, like pressing a deep bruise, other times like mature love, poignant and nostalgic.