Simcha to Shiva: Poems in My Time

from the foreword:

My 20th century life went by in what would have seemed from a distance as a pretty straight line of academic achievement leading to a successful career, living in a solid marriage and raising two wonderful kids in a secure community of friends. There was a lot of hard work, with planning and struggle on all fronts, of course, but things went along more or less as expected. Then came the new millennium and there was a job opportunity in Canada and a move, other travel to far off places, challenging health problems for my wife and for me, and watching children grow up, develop their own careers, find mates and have children. People got sick, people died. Adventures abounded. Life in the new millennium became so much richer and so much more out of control. I have had a habit of dating my poems to the time I finished their first full drafts. I have put them together by the months of their origin, forming one solar orbit in my personal life cycle journey. They are all stuffed in this book like the events they recall are all stuffed in my head. So start anywhere and finish when you wish. Perhaps you can pretend that you and I are walking together and I am telling you a random tale or two stimulated by a smell or sound, the season of the year or perhaps a connection in our real or imagined relationship. May you find one or two that delight you, confuse you or just make you wonder.

L'chaim,

Sterling Clarren