Beforehand

Melanie Marttila is a Sudbury-based freelance writer and writing
consultant.

Beforehand is the first, and last, collection by Jacqueline Dyck Akkouh.
It was written in the last year of her life, as she fought a valiant,
yet ultimately losing, battle against cancer. It is unfortunate indeed
that she was not with us long enough to develop her skill more
completely, for in this slim volume, the reader finds a vibrant voice
with a unique expression of thought and feeling in her verse. Her
phrasing is very “Old World” in flavor, liltingly British, and quite
refreshing when visited with contemporary sensibilities.

The collection is Akkouh’s attempt to “encapsulate her life in
poetry.” In these poems, she remembers old friends, travels, family,
loss, and, ultimately, her illness. The final section, “The Last
Year,” is perhaps the most poignant, for obvious reasons. In
“Sustained,” she writes, “Often feel sustained—wafted even— /
by thoughts and prayers of family / friends / for me—who’s had no
faith.” The absences become more marked here, perhaps reflecting the
encroaching illness, the urgency with which the author was forced to
write. In “Engrossed,” she writes about how the “terminally ill”
search “frantically for memories, / clues and answers,” and about
how the absence of companionship makes “the mental search / more manic
and then bitter.”

There is something to be found in every absence—and
presence—Akkouh wrote about. A thoughtful preface and afterword by
Rand Dyck (the author’s brother) and a poem by Robert Gibbs called
“Jackie’s Poems” take the reader through the author’s too-brief
life. Beforehand is recommended for collections with emphasis on
Canadian literature, women’s studies/literature, and arts therapy, as
well as for hospital and other therapeutic libraries.