Face to Face: A Poetry Collection

by Julie Cadwallader-Staub

Parker J. Palmer, author of A Hidden Wholeness, of Let Your Life Speak, and of The Courage to Teach says that "I read a lot of poetry, but rarely do I read poems so elegant in their simplicity, so profound in their humanity. I read many accounts of great love and great loss, but rarely do I see suffering explored as honestly and hopefully as it is here. The faith that shines through these poems--so powerfully that it renews the reader's faith--is neither vague nor pious. It is bone-deep faith, a phrase that stands in paradoxical tension with the fact that bone cancer took Julie Cadwallader-Staub's beloved Warren from her and their children, leading to this painful and redemptive journey in language and life." Jay Parini, author of The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems, sees this poetry as "full of what Julie Cadwallader-Staub calls 'bright blasts of truth." And Julie Salamon, author of Hospital and of Facing the Wind, believes that "While death hovers over this fine collection, life and love are the real subjects of Julie Cadwallader-Staub's poems."

Genres: Poetry

95 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2010

Reviews

[Patrick Hansel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly powerful, tender, moving book of poetry. Julie Cadwallader-Staub does not shy away from the terror (and sometimes tedium) of loss, but re-consecrates it with compassion and hope.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some lovely poems. A couple of them have been quoted on The Writer's Almanac, which is what drew me to the book. Watching a loved one through illness, death, grief, and thereafter is of course a painful journey and sadly familiar to me. Julie C-S is an earnest and sometimes humorous guide. Her children - and a guinea pig - add a wonderful perspective:

Now, after the kids rush off to school,
you and I sit on the bed.
I hold the guinea pig, since he bites.
You fill the syringe.
We administer the foul smelling medicine
to this black and white repository of our children's love

hoping the little fellow will live
admitting to each other:
if he doesn't,
it'll be good practice.

[Stephen Kiernan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes searing, sometimes sorrowful, always filled with accurate appreciation and gratitude for life, this collection follows a woman as she accompanies her husband into death at a young age from cancer.

There are leavening poems, including the dark humor of their children, and there are some verses that read more like prayers. But the precision of thought and courage of expression make the hard parts rewarding, and the lighter ones a gift.

[Hannah Blakeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent poems