Written over an eight-year period, the poems in State of Grace: The Joshua Elegies chronicle the death of Alexis Rhone Fancher's only child, Joshua Dorian Rhone, at the age of 26, and its aftermath of devastation, grief, and reflection. Because she was a divorced parent since her son was three, the bond between mother and child was particularly strong, making Joshua's early death especially wrenching.

But Fancher, an award-winning poet known for her frank, image-filled poetry, has created a work of hope, joy, and lasting beauty--which poet Jack Grapes calls "a...