Dead Poems - the Foreword
by Reed Singleton

This work is a collection of writings and drawings made by my grandmother, Ann Starling, while she was involuntarily confined in a place known as Cambridge Mental Hospital. In her time, she was considered a 'sensitive', a person with great intuition. She made no secrets about her gift, and frequently proffered advice to everyone who cared to ask for it, and even some who didn't. I believe it was these boldfaced professions that eventually saw her committed to the mental hospital.

Perhaps there is some truth to the insanity rumors, but I prefer to believe that she had a unique ability to receive messages from others who had gone before her; that what seemed to be rambling monologues were actually one side of a dialogue between Ann and the Spirit World.

This collection is , therefore, especially important. It may not only contain my grandmother's own words and artwork, but the messages of others, especially patients at the mental hospital.
I truly believe in her abilities as a sensitive, and believe there are secrets waiting to be revealed; hidden somewhere in this compilation of psychic writings. For Ann to produce such a dissimilar and captivating collection of poetry and drawings, is proof enough for me to believe she acted as a channel for the dead. Hence the title choice, Dead Poems.

Reed Singleton
revised August, 2004