Dearly

In this collection, Margaret Atwood addresses the late-life realities of mortality, memory, and environmental change. The poems trace the decline of a companion into dementia, the physical sensations of aging, and the loss of biodiversity. Atwood uses specific imagery of the natural world—including owls, fungi, and spiders—to map the intersection of human history and biological cycles. Several sequences examine the origins of words and the persistence of myths, moving from ancient sirens to contemporary plastic pollution. The text functions as a catalog of disappearances, recording the fading of personal recollections alongside the extinction of various species.

This volume serves readers who prefer direct, unsentimental observations on grief and the passage of time. It appeals to those interested in the ethical implications of the climate crisis and the technical precision of language. Readers walk away with a starker perspective on how individual lives sit within a wider evolutionary timeline. The book provides a framework for analyzing loss without resorting to decorative metaphors, offering instead a sharp-edged look at what remains when the past becomes distant and the physical self begins to fail.