Sing to Me and I Will Hear You – The Poems Nine months after Francis’ death in January, 2010, Elaine was given a gift of two books of poetry by Donald Hall. In The Painted Bed and Without, he was lamenting the death of his wife. With this model of a grief-stricken poet to hearten her, poems of her own started to come. She cried out in the first of these, “At Last” – “I could not bear the void . . .” During Francis’ last one hundred days, Elaine had written “Dear Family and Friends” letters which were posted on www.elaineandfrancis.blogspot.com Some of the poems in her first book, Sing to Me and I Will Hear You – The Poems, published in 2012, were sparked by Elaine’s memories during Francis’ last one hundred days, many of them recorded in these journal letters. But the poems express as well, Elaine’s own experiences during the two years following Francis’ death. Many of the poems originated in prayer, or, as Elaine prefers to call it, her “sitting practice.” They offer a glimpse into the progression of her journey through grief.