Poetry. In 1997, Joan Michelson's husband, Geoffrey Adkins, a fellow poet, died unexpectedly on his way to work. The poems in TOWARD THE HELIPAUSE are a response to this event and a dialogue between her poems and his. Progressing through grief and recovery, the narrative follows shifts in perspective up to the tenth anniversary of the death. The reading is heart wrenching and glorious, full of love and loss and a deep look at a deep love. Anyone who has lost a loved one will find solace and tears reading TOWARD THE HELIPAUSE and will find a moment's recognition where one's heart, if closed, may open.