Without You

An infant is mortally ill and cries and cries. A child wishes the terrible crying to end. The infant dies. Without You is without the infant.It is also without the self that hides from itself in fear of itself. It is a record of the struggle to understand and to restore the self.The photographs described in the poems act as evidence - who was there, who was I, what does it mean. Making art is portrayed as an act of exploration and as a means of staying alive.The writing is formed to parallel the interplay of masked and unmasked thoughts that are the slow and nonlinear path to recognition and to understanding in this powerful, gripping sequence.

Ditta Baron Hoeber is a poet and an artist living in Philadelphia, has handmade over 200 artist’s books. This is the first book others have made for her. Schooled as an artist, Hoeber came to poetry on her own. Published in The Journal of American Poetry, Juxtaprose, Burningword Literary Review, and the American Poetry Review among others, Hoeber’s visual art has also been acquired by collections across the US and in London.?