Step into the imagination of Rita Hanner-Ward

Her Song of Sorrows: A Quiet Mourning in Verse deepens the emotional landscape, transforming mourning into music. Each poem becomes a tender, unguarded song—one that acknowledges the ache of endings while offering companionship to anyone navigating their own shadows. Here, sorrow is not a destination but a passage toward unexpected beauty.

As Her Poetic Awakening series continues to unfold, future volumes will widen the lens, celebrating not only what breaks us but what restores us. These forthcoming books will explore love in its many forms, the quiet joys that sustain us, and the epiphanies that arrive when we least expect them. Together, they invite readers into a poetic awakening of their own—an ever‑evolving recognition that life’s deepest truths are found in both its sorrows and its light.

Embracing both the spaciousness of free verse and the distilled clarity of haiku, Rita Hanner-Ward begins to look outward again. She turns her gaze to the people closest to her, welcoming the subtle transformations that rise from connection, memory, and the daily act of choosing to remain open. Each day, each breath becomes an invitation to soften, to witness, and to evolve. What emerges is a portrait of a woman stepping into the afterlight—changed, resilient, and willing to meet life with an unguarded heart.

Her Proffered Epiphany: Poems from the Afterlight continues the poet’s intimate journey of moving forward after loss—of learning to live with uncertainty, to stand alone without feeling abandoned, and to draw strength from the quiet lessons that grief leaves behind. Through gentle observations and tender recollections, she explores the ways we carry our sorrow as both burden and armor, shaping who we become.