In four new collections, a frank look at disability, a celebration of domestic life (and dogs), a gathering of hushed moments ...

O n that day when the soul dresses in white and the heart beats stronger, every word spoken takes on an eternal meaning.

The expression comes from the famous scene in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” in which the eponymous seafarer shoots and kills an albatross—a sign of good luck or providence ...