in the aftermath
by Jessica Nirvana Ram
fifth wheel press, 38pp., $12.00
Jessica Nirvana Ram begins her new chapbook’s first poem, “Afterimage,” with an evocative statement of preference:
The people I love most in this life are yellow,
butterscotch & honey laughter, lemon sour
comebacks, goldenrod & turmeric hearts.
A few lines later, the autobiographical speaker reveals that this description applies to a friend of hers named Emma, who died by suicide when they were in college. This turn underlines the themes of in the aftermath as Ram explores her grief about Emma’s passing years later. These poems don’t seek to explore why her friend died, focusing instead on the friend’s absence from her life and what it has meant–will continue to mean–to Ram in the years to come.
Ram writes primarily in free verse and hones in on unique, specific details about Emma and their friendship. Very early on she gives the reader almost a full idea of who Emma was and what the women’s friendship entailed. The chapbook’s eponymous poem tells the reader about Emma’s magenta-dyed hair, while both “Signal” and “Crown for Emma” discuss her love of circle skirts. “Eggplant Parm” introduces a visual of the titular dish, something Emma was particularly skilled at making and that Ram describes in a way which sounds both delicious and grand. By focusing on Emma’s various quirks and characteristics, Ram expertly creates motifs that recur throughout the chapbook, allowing what seem like simple details about her friend to evolve and change meaning as they return throughout.
While processing feelings about her friend’s passing, the poems in Ram’s collection also seek to to determine how Emma’s death fits into, and compares with, her other experiences with grief and loss. “On Grieving You” compares the cremation of Emma with the cremation of Ram’s grandparents. Drawing on her Indo-Guyanese background, she writes:
My faith tells me
this release is a freedom, a kindness by the living
to allow souls to leave in peace. What kind of
goodbyes were spoken into your after? Was it
enough for you to feel free?
The later poem “Incantation to the Departed” continues these examinations, as Ram compares seeing dead deer on the side of the road to the death of a high school classmate also killed in a car accident:
My faith urges me to offer a prayer,
to repeat mantras over the deceased,
to find their loved ones & offer company.
Because there must be someone waiting
for them to come home, & grieving is softer
with those who know loss.
This chapbook benefits from the way that Ram plays with the interval between Emma’s death and when the poems’ were composed. With the benefit of enough distance from their college years, she’s able to use these poems to examine how much she still holds onto and how much has been let go. “I want to believe” admires a tattoo Emma had, while “‘love yourself’” describes a tribute tattoo Ram imagines getting for herself:
a daffodil over the words love yourself because
every time I’d look at it I’d hear your voice,
the lilt of judgment.
Much like the opening poem and its description of how the color yellow has come to represent Emma in Ram’s life, these little details are ways for Ram to keep the memory of her friend alive and show how she still exists in the world. Ram’s in the aftermath is a detailed, beautiful exploration of grief and how it evolves over time. By honing in on the parts of Emma that she wishes to keep close to her, she presents a revealing and heartbreaking collection that asks the reader to think about what they remember the most about those they have lost. Maybe it’s a plate of eggplant parmesan, maybe a quiet night at home drinking, or maybe it’s imagined days by the river. Whatever it is, it deserves to be cherished and honored as those still living continue on.
About the Author
Jessica Nirvana Ram is an Indo-Guyanese poet. She is the author of the poetry collection Earthly Gods (Game Over Books, 2024). Her work has appeared in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Prairie Schooner, Honey Literary, and elsewhere. Jessica was a 2022-23 Stadler Fellow, she currently works as the Publicity and Outreach Manager for the Stadler Center for Poetry and Literary Arts. She lives and writes in Lewisburg, PA.
Contributor Bio
Alex Carrigan (he/him) is a Pushcart-nominated editor, poet, and critic from Alexandria, VA. He is the author of Now Let’s Get Brunch (Querencia Press, 2023) and May All Our Pain Be Champagne (Alien Buddha Press, 2022). He has appeared in SoFloPoJo, Cotton Xenomorph, Bullshit Lit, HAD, fifth wheel press, and more. Visit carriganak.wordpress.com or follow him on Twitter @carriganak for more info.
Contents
Chapbook Poem: The Blessed Knot by Li-Young Lee
“A well-made poem is a knot, but not a tangle. The well-made knot of a poem can disentangle readers from illusion, to free them from confusion. Poetry is a form of disillusionment.” Read the July Chapbook Poem by Li-Young Lee along with words from the poet.
“This work is an archive of my attempts to become more familiar with who I am, and why I am here, to immerse myself in these ancient spiritual questions…” Check out five poems and five images by Laynie Browne along with a few words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: Creating Space by Lisa Sewell
“Yoga, the walks, and the writing became a daily exercise in paying attention—to the world, to the bodies in the world around me and to my own body…” Read the Excerpt Poem of the Month for July 2025 by Lisa Sewell along with words from the poet.
“My poetry tries to examine … the difference between the lives we live inside ourselves and the lives we expose to other people.” Read five poems by William Doreski along with a few words from the poet.
July ’25: Poetry Readers Wanted
Read a note from editor Aiden Hunt about PCR’s Summer poetry and new poetry reader opportunities brought by our growing original poetry submissions.
Four Poems by allison whittenberg
“I grew up as a film buff and I loved reading Hollywood Babylon. Over the years, I have learned to separate the truth from the myths.” Read four poems by allison whittenberg along with a few words from the poet.
Chapbook Poem: August Peaches by Winshen Liu
“I wanted to sit with a particular end-of-summer indulgence, where a host has saved specialty foods to welcome visiting friends and family–fancy chocolate, favorite sodas, a certain snack.” Read a poem from Winshen Liu’s chapbook Paper Money along with words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: Cheesecake Factory by Max McDonough
“This poem lives in the weirdness of the suburban mall spaces a lot of us grew up visiting (or loitering in!), places that feel like they could be anywhere and nowhere at once.” Read a poem from Max McDonough’s chapbook along with words from the poet.
Three Poems by Alexandra Meyer
“Love had made me stronger in a lot of ways, but also showed me the weakest parts of myself that were left crystallized for him to see. This was much like wood morphing into rock during the petrification process.” Read three poems by Alexandra Meyer along with words from the poet.
Three Poems by Kristiane Weeks-Rogers
“Anchored by sensory detail, the poem journeys between childhood safety and adult experience in a canyon town shaped by rivers and monsoons. … This poem is a meditation on time, tastes, and tenderness of memory.” Read three poems by Kristiane Weeks-Rogers along with words from the poet.
Chapbook Poem: The Seventh Age of Shakespeare’s Father by Scott LaMascus
“This poem hit me hard last winter, sitting a moment near my late father, as our family was trying to absorb the meaning of his ALS diagnosis … I wondered, if ‘all the world’s a stage,’ what role had I just been assigned?” Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for September 2025 along with words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: Landscape with footprints in ash by Selma Asotić
“When I want to sound smart, I say things like: a poet is one who leaves. When I accept that I’m not very smart, mostly just perplexed and a little scared, I write poems about ghosts and circle farms.” Read a poem from Asotić’s new book, Say Fire, along with words from the poet.
“All of my encounters with the U.S. healthcare system follow the protocols of the ridiculous. This poem, couched in the conventions of the contemporary sonnet, explores my latest, decisive encounter with a doctor’s office.” Read three poems by Robin Arble along with words from the poet.
September ’25: Best of the Net Nominations
Editor Aiden Hunt announces Philly Chapbook Review’s Best of the Net 2026 anthology nominations in this editor’s note and provides links to the nominated poems.
Verses of Mourning: in the aftermath by Jessica Nirvana Ram
“[Ram] presents a revealing and heartbreaking collection that asks the reader to think about what they remember the most about those they have lost.” Read Alex Carrigan’s full review.
“This poem reckons with our capitalist, product-driven society to ask people why disabled stories are only relevant if they portray the ‘other’ overcoming trauma to become abled people’s inspiration porn.” Read three poems by Makena Metz along with words from the poet.