I was frightened by publishing my first poetry book. Seventy-seven years old and two strokes. Sixteen poems, three stories written over a thirty year period and tucked away in a metal file box in a garage. However, not completely forgotten. Now and then I went into the garage and read poems and stories once again. Eventually, I took them out of the metal file, brought them to my study, and fingered the poems and stories. Could I publish eleven poems and three stories? Could I publish five additional poems after the strokes? Would they be as good as the eleven poems I’d written before the strokes? Determined I set out to see what happens to the poems after the the strokes. I wrote five. Yes, I said to myself, you can write poems after two strokes. I couldn’t tell the difference between them.
My favorite poem before is Ralph: “That moment, with juice running down my face/and dripping from my fingers . . . “ After, my favorite poem is Eva: “ . . . because/we want to be where she is/at that very moment/joined together.” I also revised the three stories. So here it is: poems and stories. You can find my book here.