For One Who Chose to Die

For One Who Chose to Die interrogates the most fundamental question of existence: what is life’s purpose? Written by Kevin O’Keefe in the 1970s and 80s, these poems explore feelings about change and death, love and loss, beauty and pain, and grief for a lost childhood. This collection interweaves structured and free verse poetry in playful variety. The resulting posthumous collection reveals a man both grappling with depression and possessed of an abundant literary imagination:

I could see you clearly in my dreams
Like smoke in the spotlight
Or dust in streaks of sunlight
You were there
Slipping out of shadows into my vision
Passing through discretely
Existing only briefly
–“Salubria”

At some times joyful and reverent, at other times bleak and foreboding, For One Who Chose to Die offers insight into the mind of someone struggling to find their place in the world. This book will particularly resonate with anyone who has struggled with their mental health or is close to someone who has.