AUBURN — Auburn Public Library, Beacon Hospice, Edward Little High School and L/A Arts are collaborating to present a performance and discussion of “A Finished Heart” at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 7 in the community room of Auburn Public Library at 49 Spring Street. The event is open to the general public with a special invitation to high school students.

When his husband of sixteen years became ill, author and composer Eliott Cherry cared for him at home. He also recorded their conversations in his diary. After Chris Chenard died in 2007, Cherry wrote poetry, prose and music and combined these with his journal entries to create “A Finished Heart.”

Cherry will perform dramatic story and poetry accompanied by a musical score with Martin Perry at the piano. The audience is invited to attend a post-performance discussion with the author facilitated by ELHS guidance counselor Heidi Conn and Beacon Hospice volunteer coordinator Kyla Greenwood. Participants will have a chance to share experiences and questions related to care-giving, dying and loss.

At ELHS, students will be focusing on themes raised by the piece during the weeks before and after the performance. APL will highlight a display of books and other resources on care, illness, loss and emotional health oriented toward teens.

By sharing the intimacy of two men who have committed their lives to each other, Cherry hopes that “A Finished Heart” will stimulate participants to discover compassionate ways to be with dying individuals and their loved ones and to broaden their perspectives on dying, care-giving, grief and life. Further goals are to build respect for the diversity of human relationships, offer a role model and hope for gay youth who may despair that spousal relationships are not possible for them, and to strengthen bonds among family members. The piece expresses an experience of losing one’s spouse and the complexity of end-of-life experience.

Cherry wrote, “Being with Chris as he died and losing him focused me on how vulnerable we are in critical situations. Our last days together spurred us to reach pinnacles of devotion and care.”

“A Finished Heart” has been performed at the University of Maine, the University of New England, the University of Southern Maine, the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, and the Cambridge MA Public Library as well as for many faith congregations. The work has also been presented at the New England Consortium on Life Stories. For more information, visit www.afinishedheart.com.