S. Elizabeth Cook’s fourth volume of poetry follows on from the themes of love and loss explored in her previous collection, Yellow Light.

Over the course of two hundred and thirty-four beautifully composed stanzas, Before You Go casts a devastatingly close eye on the nature of love and relationships. S. Elizabeth Cook explores the pain and beauty to be found in moments of deepest intimacy, and searing heartbreak. Her poems weave startlingly frank images of togetherness and isolation, of sensual touch and desolate stillness, of longing and belonging. They occupy the space between sleep and wakefulness: the bittersweet dream that is a life shared with another, and the joy and agony that accompanies it.

With a striking lyricism, Before You Go perfectly captures the infinitely varied experience of our devotion to the other halves of ourselves, and indeed to love itself.