Old Age and Young Hearts

Old Age and Young Hearts is a rich collage of women's poetic voices of experience, at once nostalgic, somber, and quietly hopeful. There's so much loss and sorrow here-illness, estrangement, death. One poet laments "how one loss calls forth another." The body often fails, but not the spirit. And the women find joy in remembering the pleasures and challenges of their shifting identities through girlhood, friendship, work, marriage, children-the busy times, the good times. Another poet writes: "Somehow a strength has carried me safely through my years / and weathered all these human squalls." The poets celebrate lives well lived, regrets and all, and their strength, vitality, and good-heartedness shine through in these fine poems.

Judy Brackett Crowe, Flat Water: Nebraska Poems



"We are the trees.../our roots, out of sight, intertwined/settled in the long sweet dark," writes Gail Entrekin, in one of many engaging poems from the vibrant collection, Old Age and Young Hearts. The anthology reveals the complexity of aging through insights from a compelling group of women poets. Time is a gift, and it is also a thief. This dichotomy appears in the themes of the work: remembering those who have come before, mourning the dead, the richness of friendship, and the eventual, inescapable passing of youth. Through poems about the body, memory, awareness of change, and lost things (according to Susan Solinsky: "friends' names, birthdays, movies, seasons...") the reader benefits from the honesty and artistry of women addressing aging with poignancy and humor.

Kirsten Casey, Poet Laureate, Nevada County, California



What a striking collection of poems by our women elders! Very diverse writing from poets trailing lists of publishing and other artistic credits to poets who have only recently ventured into sharing their work. Some themes of aging are familiar, others eccentric and vivid with the particulars of a lived life. This is the best anthology of wise women's work that I have seen since When I Am Old I Shall Wear Purple-I highly recommend it for readers of all ages and genders!

Iven Lourie, Poet and Editor, author of collections Miro's Dream and Return to Mykonos