When the World Breaks Open

Book excerpt: A poet’s story of healing herself, working with wounded veterans, and learning that silence does not equal strength, written “with self-lacerating honesty” (Kirkus Reviews). In this poignant and unabashed self-examination, Seema Reza uncovers the lessons she learned through motherhood and a dysfunctional and abusive marriage, and how she used her discoveries to make a meaningful difference in the world. This lyrical, non-linear narrative memoir traces Reza’s journey from repressed suburban housewife to coordinator of a unique creative-expression military hospital program. Through observing her own experiences from the darkest moments of her life and investigating societal attitudes towards loss, love, motherhood, and community, Reza exposes her triumphs, weaknesses, fears, and regrets, and undermines the idea that strength requires silence. “Lyrical . . . powerful . . . It is her self-reflection which empowers this memoir; her responsibility to take action for herself and not to languish as she was.” —Entropy Literature Review