Sundress Reads: Review of Romanticization of Grief and Ghosts

Romanticization of Grief and Ghosts (Bottlecap Press 2025) by Annalisa Hansford explores the turmoil that comes with trauma, loving, and being loved. It’s a soul-gripping poetry chapbook etched with the wistful sadness and rage of a stormy morning, an outpouring of passionate writing that expresses themes of heartbreak, failed friendship, mental health, and the desire to forget.

In 20 poems, Hansford paints a picture of the kinds of dynamics people face universally and the hands of devotion and memory. The second poem in Romanticization of Grief and Ghosts, “Abecedarian for My Future Lover,” is indicative of the spirit of the entire chapbook. It stands out from the rest of the poems as it uses a very specific and engaging poetry style. As the title suggests, Hansford uses every letter in the alphabet to express the speaker’s future love interest, the very extent of their love. It’s not only Hansford’s intense declarations of love that are common themes, but requests for harsh memories to be wiped away or changed are prevalent throughout, as well.

Romanticization of Grief and Ghosts is much deeper than yearning for a lover or the betrayal of a friend, as Hansford sprinkles in some poems specifically about memories. Some poems in this chapbook tell of a somber event, and others express deep feelings of devotion. It’s as if means to paint them as catalysts for one another. The speaker begins by describing the departure from home at 18 and the misfortunes that followed, leaving them scarred and fearful, yet determined.

The speaker then goes on to describe memories and people with longing or regret. In “poem in which you can’t hurt me,” Hansford writes: “in this poem, i don’t / need to unbandage my wounds / to be believed. The world sees you holding / the blade” (17). In the poem, “Last Night, I Had a Nightmare That My Elementary School, Along With My Childhood Memories, Caught on Fire,” they write, “A few hours ago, I dreamt of my childhood burning in prayers. When no / one was looking, grief lit a match behind my elementary school” (Hansford 15). These lines may relate to someone haunted by their past and unforgivably molded by it. 

Hansford mostly alternates between prose and two-lined stanzas, which feels intimate and raw, so it feels like these poems are meant to be digested slowly, especially since they hinge on metaphors that are devastatingly romantic and urgent. For example, in “Portrait of My Brain Experiencing a Chemical Imbalance,” Hansford writes, “For now, my body is a broken melody / The only tune my mouth knows how to hum” (4). And in “call me the anti-hero” they write, 

They make excellent use of metaphor in the book to convey those strong themes of struggling with mental health and losing herself to love and ghosts of the past, from start to finish. 

Hansford also uses religious motifs to convey these themes in a handful of these poems. “Portrait of Loving A Girl Until She Become A Saint” and “Portrait of Loving a Girl Like A Religion” come straight from the heart, and straight from the perspective of justifiably breaking down in an attempt to outlive past scars. Another outstanding example is, “The Girl Who Wore My Teeth As Jewelry,” where Hansford writes,

It seems that romanticization in this project is not simply a careless mode of being, but a coping mechanism. Romanticization and even longing ease the pain, somehow. The most beautiful part of this chapbook is the theme of longing and the sentiment of desiring something or someone so much that you must find new and extreme ways to express yourself, whether for a lover or an internal sense of justice. The author ushers us into the sickly sweet pain of being haunted by our memories, our passion, and people we once thought to be an integral part of our universe.

Hansford’s work is the kind you read after a breakup, after a betrayal, or if you have trouble letting memories fade. The kind you read to know that you’re not alone, and to ruminate for a moment on our modes of letting people in, phasing people out, and living with it all. Hansford’s amazing writing complements a story of yearning yet needing to forget. This chapbook reflects a degree of emotion that is not usually encouraged and quite likely to bring a tear to your eye. It may even convince you to tell someone that you love them. It may remind you of someone or convince you to forget them. There is so much to take from these heart-wrenching lines.
Romanticization of Grief and Ghosts is a love letter to the sort of hurt that we expect ourselves to let go of as quickly as it happened. The hurt that stays with us even when we’ve developed tougher skin. Annalisa Hansford’s writing is breathtaking and relatable on many levels.

Romanticization of Grief and Ghosts is available from Bottlecap Press.

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