Franka Hughes

You never said good-bye: A mourning Franka Hughes

You never said good-bye is a collection of short poems in free verse describing the immediate stages of grieving a loved one. It's the thoughts of a daughter mourning the sudden and unexpected loss of her beloved father, finding words for the indescribable. Sober, loving and absolutely honest, she expresses in snippets, thought bubbles and meditations the emotional chaos after the loss, her fears and doubts and her hope. Surprisingly different from anything that the grieving self-help literature usually presents, the text gives the reader space to engage with their own feelings and thoughts, at their own tempo, rather than prescribe remedies. Moving through grief requires a great deal of hard work on the part of the mourner and the author hopes that anyone who is in mourning will recognise their own situation, or find a glimpse of solace, in her words.