From the Other Side of Maybe

a poetic memoir by P.M. Draper

A Journey of Family, Loss, and the Lifelong Vow to Never Forget

Do you really know the backstory of your family history?

In, From the Other Side of Maybe, P.M. Draper crafts a poetic memoir. For her granddaughters. In six chapters, she outlines her life story couched in her poetry. In so doing, she weaves a tale that carries the reader through unimaginable happenings and heartbreak. Each chapter begins with a letter to her granddaughters, hinting at what they’ll soon read.

Growing up with an impaired mother. An absentee father for ten years, before tragedy brings him back. An exercise in survival.

P.M. Draper does just that: survive, despite losing her brothers and sister to untimely circumstances. She puts together her saga in such a way that not only tells what happened but illustrates the strength and beauty of the human spirit.

Early Praise

In her arresting and haunting hybrid memoir, From the Other Side of Maybe, P.M. Draper explores the lifelong reverberations of family dysfunction and tragedy. Through an expertly woven tapestry of poetry, letters and traditional narrative, Draper shines a bright light on what it means to endure unthinkable trauma and loss—and move to unearth ways to build a life filled with meaning and beauty. A richly layered and powerful work of literature, brimming with humor and love, From The Other Side of Maybe stays with the reader as an inspiring reminder of the human spirit’s stunning capacity for resilience.

—SKIPWITH COALE, writer/poet

This heartwarming collection comprises unposted letters addressed to a latter generation, filled with family history, words of advice and a lovely collection of poetry relating the author’s experiences, transitions and growing up into her full realization of life. Stories and verse within are appended with such tragedy, hardship, switchbacks, and loss along her course that one might wonder how she arrived at all in such a place to proclaim to her beloved granddaughters: You are my unbound joy, my prayer for every tomorrow. / We are family—you make me believe in second chances./ I write from the other side of Maybe.

—SEAN SEXTON, author of  May Darkness Restore and Portals

P.M.Draper will wrench your heart out of you, but she’ll do it in such a way that you don’t realize it at first. So, you will keep reading: what is the feeling growing in me? Where is the center of the heartbreak in this story? Draper unwinds slowly, subtly, with all the drama and pacing of a mystery novel. You simply must read on as I did—until the very last page for its filled with the understanding of the healing—even the energy and love—that can come from heartbreak.

—BONNIE MACDOUGALL, PhD., Columbia University, author of Those Who Live and Curtain Call

About the Author

P.M. Draper is the literary pseudonym Patricia ‘Pat’ Draper uses for her writing life. She has lived on the Treasure Coast of Florida since 1978. A semi-retired nurse-practitioner, she joined a local writing group in 2018. Her previous books of poetry include The Tao of Hibiscus (Rebel Magic Books, 2019) and her chapbook After Pyre (The Poetry Box, 2022). Her poem “A Time Like This” won second place in the Covid competition sponsored by the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University in Charlotte, NC. She is the current Poet Laureate of Indian River County. In addition to writing, she enjoys cooking and triathlon training with her husband Tom. And they both enjoy lounging with Oreo, Boston Terrier extraordinaire.

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by P.M. Draper

P.M. Draper’s poems in After Pyre explore change, loss, and unfathomable heartache, while offering the reader respite with her skillful verse that is not only refreshing, but achingly funny when you least expect it. From the tragic tale of suicide by fire to poems about squirrel sex and the Kung Fu Nuns of Kathmandu, After Pyre will take the reader on quite a ride.

ENJOY A VIDEO OF PAT READING FROM THE BOOK:

P.M. (Pat) Draper — A Featured Poet on The Poetry Box LIVE (September 2022)

About the Author

P.M. Draper is a baby-boomer who retired during the pandemic. Her previous book of verse, The Tao of Hibiscus was published in 2020. She won 2^nd place in the Covid competition for her poem “A Time Like This” which appears here in After Pyre. She’s been a closet-poet for years, coming out in 2018 when she joined a local writers’ group. She lives in Vero Beach, Fl with her husband and Boston Terrier, Oreo.

Early Praise for After Pyre:

In After Pyre, her second collection of poetry, P.M. Draper skillfully and piercingly explores what it means to experience both personal and collective trauma. Written in radiant, unfancy language, her poems speak of family dysfunction and tragedy, the pandemic, illness, and ageing—all with bracing clear-sightedness and compassion, defiance, abundant humor, and above all, an abiding sense of hope. Draper’s poetry asks difficult questions: how does one move through the world while haunted by memories of violent sibling deaths, mental illness, addiction? How does one find beauty and joy amidst enormous suffering and loss? These galvanizing poems implore and inspire the reader to embrace possibility in the face of heartache. They are a stunning testament that, out of chaos and ruin, we humans are endlessly capable of discovering the power to live fully to touch the bones of every dream.

 —Skipwith Coale

PM Draper’s music is slant, whimsical and deeply satisfying. In the first stanza of “Illuminati,” she juxtaposes Amsterdam, Bangkok, and Vienna, employs personification, auditory imagery, nouns used as verbs, several cliches, and alliteration. She wakes her reader and then employs the ancient trope: apostrophe, before we’re swept to Tierra del Fuego. She roams the page restlessly and yet paradoxically, seems at home in her country: poetry. You won’t be the same after reading about squirrel sex or the “Kung Fu Nuns of Kathmandu.”

—Sally Naylor, author of Synapse Flies into Startle

The post After Pyre appeared first on The Poetry Box.