October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 19, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"This is just to say I'm sorry I kept beating and beating inside your shattered chest. Forgive me for keeping you alive so long. I knew it would kill me to let you go."

Review:
This was a devastating read. Many of Newman's poems used the personification of inanimate objects - the truck, a tree, stars, the wind, the fence, and most devastatingly, his heart - to make you feel that Matthew Shepard wasn't so alone for those 18 hours. Despite the verses, you remember again and again that he was alone. That when they found him the only part of Matthew not covered in blood were the tracks of tears down his cheeks that he cried and cried before he succumbed to his injuries. It will be 20 years this October since Matthew was brutally murdered. The progress made, so much in his memory, is great but we have so far to go. I highly suggest this quick read, though difficult, it will remind you how precious life is, how hate and fear do nothing but cause death and destruction, and that there was a 21-year-old kid from Wyoming who deserves to be remembered.