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Fear, Trembling, & Renewal: Poems to Age With

Norma Roth

 FormatISBN Price  
This Book is Available Paperback (6x9)9781438904603 $ 11.99  
About the Book

About The Book

Fear, Trembling & Renewal: Poems to Age With is a collection of poems for the mature: those who are trying to face life as it is, feeling the fear of getting older -- the knowledge that one doesn't have an age past this; the trembling of wondering if one has yet spoken with the voice that is truly theirs -- and if there is still time to dream and to plan, and a place where one can be and renew those dreams -- perhaps left aside during earlier years, and rededicate their lives to the "selves" they want to be...for as long as life is. In this book, using the metaphors of light and snow, the author comes to believe as "the snow begins to fall... little dots before our eyes can change vision" allowing one "to see the world anew." But the author recognizes, too, in the snow’s fullness, there is a strange, seductive promise of peace from which she draws back trembling. In the final section of this book, Reprieve, the author reminds herself that she had forgot how "snow’s bright light replaces dark night" fills this world with new promise: "dancing on trees, enhancing the leaves, filling dark crevices of earth with white..." and comes to the conclusion that with such "intensity, there is no night." The author invites readers to make the pilgrimage with her through the fear and trembling and on to the renewal that awaits -- and rededicate themselves, as she has, to an affirmation of life.

 

 

 

About the Author

Norma Roth is an attorney, educator and individual scholar who has written poetry all her life. None has given her more sense of accomplishment than this present volume: Fear, Trembling & Renewal –  subtitle –  Poems to Age With, a collection of poems for the mature written over the last decade from her personal perspective and dedication to the last phase of a life – which she sees as a renewal. Ms. Roth is currently working on a companion piece, a book,  Aging With Grace, Dignity and Integrity Intact subtitled: Aging Defiantly! slated for publication in the fall. Other  publications include: Scenes From A Summer Home: The House that Waited & Other Poems; and War: We Always Lose.  Several poems from the collection of war poems have received broad recognition, including Editor’s Choice Award, and publication in Centres of Expression by Noble House; The Best Poems and Poets of 2007 and The International Library of Poetry Recognition Colle

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1.

they don’t see me anymore...

they don’t see me as I am

they see me only as I appear

slowing, greying, wrinkling

they used to glance and stay, now

a glance and glance away

I used to get a smile and wink

now only a quick look –

waiting to be discarded

I am now of the disregarded...

If I let them – I will be old

   and invisible

   I am afraid.. (From Fears)

 

2.

friends gone

lovers lost in other loves

what was it I dreamed

in the long ago?

or was it only yesterday

I reached out my hand

to worlds that beckoned

bright, light, warm

but that was so long ago

I tremble.     (From Trembling)

 

3.

“Do I dare?”

(I have thought long on this):

YES, I dare!

I will not settle for Hamlet’s servant

That will not do...

I will be Hamlet (or his sister) –or perhaps

nothing – but at least I will try

with my every breath –

“I grow old...” so, “I grow old...”

I will still say yes to life

thrust my fears to the wildest winds

swirl and spin and spit

as long as there is a spark...

I will do it...I may not do it all

but I can try –

life is in the trying

life...is in the trying.

                      (From Renewal)

 

4.

life is a cycle...my life cycle

none the better, none the worse

life – my life – is what I make it

after all:

I am the artist

I care my world...

greatness may be before

not behind – I will not judge why..

I will life!

(From Epiphanies & Flashes)

 

5.

I laugh at myself

feeling good

thoughts coming

in such profusion

I can scarcely breathe

 

without a new one

or old, tumbling

in on one another

clear as glass

sweet as the first kiss...

 

I laugh again

almost a giggle,

knowing it will

Other Books By This Author
 
Scenes From a Summer House

Your Voice in Print