Every Tear Has a Story – A review of Ayodele Alabi’s From Ashes to Air

Title: From Ashes to Air: Poems on Love, Loss and the Life After

Author: Ayodele Alabi

Year of Publication: 2026

Number of Pages: 145

Category: Poetry

Death changes everything. It interrupts dreams, changes lives and leaves behind questions that may never be answered. No one hopes to lose a loved one, yet grief eventually visits many of us. In From Ashes to Air: Poems on Love, Loss and the Life After, Ayodele Alabi opens the door to her private world and invites readers to walk with her through the loss of her father and later her husband.

If you know Ayodele, you know she loves to talk and express herself. But in this collection, you discover that poetry is where she speaks most freely. Through these poems, she says the things that are difficult to express in everyday conversations.

The collection is divided into five parts, each reflecting a different stage of her journey. By the final pages, you are no longer reading the same woman you met at the beginning. Pain slowly gives way to healing, confusion makes room for clarity, and sadness begins to turn into hope.

Although this is a poetry collection, it often feels like a memoir. Every poem is deeply personal. The emotions are so real that you feel as though you were there with the author. You feel her heartbreak, anger and longing. She holds nothing back.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is the author’s honesty. She does not pretend her marriage was perfect. She writes openly about betrayal, insecurity, shame, disappointment and the questions she was left to carry. At times, you may even think, “This is too personal.” Yet that honesty is what gives the collection its power. Grief is not neat or predictable, and Ayodele captures its many emotions without trying to tidy them up.

At different moments, you may experience mixed feelings. You sympathise with her pain, yet you may also feel uncomfortable with some of the blame she directs towards others and even towards God. But grief rarely makes perfect sense. Ayodele allows readers to witness her pain exactly as she lived it.

The poems touch on love, betrayal, loneliness, shame, insecurity, forgiveness, anger, regret, hope and healing. Although these themes appear throughout the book, each poem feels different because every experience carries its own emotion.

Readers who have been in difficult relationships will especially connect with this collection. Those who have loved deeply, been betrayed or struggled to let go may see parts of themselves in these pages. The poems also reveal the deep emotional wounds infidelity leaves behind, especially for the betrayed spouse. Without judging anyone, the author invites readers to reflect on the lasting effects of broken trust.

Some poems may bring tears. Others may begin the process of healing. If you have lost a spouse, a parent or someone you deeply loved, these poems will feel painfully familiar. If you have never experienced such loss, you may wonder why the emotions seem so intense. But that is one of the book’s greatest lessons: grief can only be fully understood by those who have lived through it.

As the collection progresses, the tone becomes lighter. The early poems are filled with heartbreak, but hope slowly begins to appear. The author’s voice grows stronger, her confidence returns and she slowly rediscovers herself. She is no longer defined only by what she has lost but also by the strength she has gained.

Beneath the sorrow, Ayodele remains someone who still believes in love. She has not given up on it; she simply wants a wiser and healthier kind of love. Careful readers may even find clues about the kind of partner she hopes for in the future.

That is what makes From Ashes to Air more than a poetry collection. It begins like a memoir, becomes deeply reflective and eventually offers hope to anyone carrying pain. These poems were not written to impress readers. They were written because the author needed a place to pour out her heart.

By the end of the book, one thing is certain: every word comes from lived experience.

From Ashes to Air is not a book you simply read; it is a book you feel. It may bring tears, stir old memories and help readers begin difficult conversations they have avoided for years. More importantly, it reminds us that although grief changes us, it does not have to define us forever.

Ayodele Alabi has turned her ashes into words, offering comfort to others walking through their own seasons of loss. She reminds us that healing may be slow, but it is possible.

About the reviewer

Titilade Oyemade is a business executive in a leading organisation and holds a degree in Russian Language. She’s the convener of the Hangoutwithtee Ladies Event and the Publisher of Hangoutwithtee magazine. She spends her weekends attending women conferences, events and book readings. She loves to have fun and to help other women have the same in their lives. Email: [email protected] Social: @tiipreeofficial