Janet Cameron Hoult Shouts Out Reason to Smile and Bear It in Body Language: Another Collection of Poems About Aging

I really don't mind it--really I don't... Having a perfect picture of me on the cover of Hoult's new book is sort of an honor...I think... I just wish I would have retained my head as I begin to fall apart! LOL

Seriously, one review I read said that those of an older age might enjoy this book better than others... Sadly I have to agree, because it is going to be a forewarning of what is to come...And, many won't want to know. But, really, everybody should be warned!

For instance, I reached 70 not very long ago. Suddenly, my body is talking to me daily! And She is not being very nice about it! I've had more doctor's visits, tests, shots and probes since March than I think I've had for the rest of my life!

OK, my sister is just the opposite having suffered for many years with fibromyalgia and the results it does to your body and she willingly, and we both, gratefully, acknowledge that I've been lucky... Still, having a book come into your home that talks about things that are happening to your book body is quite... enlightening... For one, it makes you realize that your aches and pains are not isolated--there are millions of others who have experienced exactly what your body has or is doing to you...

Take, for instance, my two surgeries which will occur, the first one on July 2nd!

Body Language
Another Collection of Poems About Again

By Janet Cameron Hoult

Here's what she has to say about my predicament!

Toes/Feet 

Twisted Toe

My second toe just doesn't know

which direction it should go

It starts to bend, then curves around

I'm just not sure which way it's bound

Right now it's brushing up against

its sister toe which has the sense

To keep on straight and to ignore

the one that doesn't know the score

For it should stop its funny moves

and keep its owner in the groove

So she doesn't completely unwind

and end up landing on her behind.

~~~

Why, I was so impressed to read about my foot, I promptly took the book for my pre-surgery appointment and read it to everybody who was in the waiting room with me...didn't get much response, but I enjoyed reading it!

But Hoult then took it a step further and explained the reason for these darling twisted toes!

Pointy Toes

Why did I wear

those shoes with pointy toes,

Those gorgeous sexy things?

It was great fun those years ago

But now my feet

won't stop complaining

My toes are permanently bent

They curl over each other

and are really a bother

When trying to walk, 

they let me know

they're unhappy

And continually talk

as I put one foot 

in front of the other.

~~~

Two things about this:

It's shows how what we do when we are young causes many of our health issues later on...

It gives new meaning to an old song... Now, it's these toes are going to walk all over...ME!

Ok, let's get more serious now...the poetry is not about being poetically beautiful...it's main purpose is to allow you to feel the humor that you may share with all others whose bodies are aging, when our minds are still back in our 20s or 30s... Some of it is even contrived to fit the poem; e.g., "...Help me "catch" my nose that runs..." This book pokes fun at what is happening to us--you know, just like the saying, "Just grin and bear it." because, believe me, that is the better choice than giving up and just waiting around to die, don't you think...?!!!

Now the book is divided into either parts of the body or specific, common diseases--diabetes, heart, vertigo, nose, teeth, etc. so plan on leaving this book out where you can reach it quickly... Having a bit of vertigo? Go to the book and laugh about it! Believe me, it is not fun--I always fall over sideways when getting out of bed--so I know when it has hit! And--it is another issue that is not just tied in to aging. My vertigo came on at least 40  years ago....but the poem made it more personal seeing somebody else had already experienced and now shared about it...

Now I'm going to close, as I sit here holding up my glasses so I can see properly to read... Yes, I need to get my glasses updated to fit my present eyesight! So, for those of you who might see me on some social network site, here's my thoughts shared by the author...

Poor Vision Parody--

"I'll be seeing you"

I'll be seeing you

whenever I get my new lenses

Stronger ones

that magnify the smallest thing

I'll see your face with all its zits

and have o close my eyes

When I see your smiling face

without its teeth put in.

~~~

Now I must add that there are some more serious, or perhaps, inspirational poems under headings of "Keep on Keeping On" and "Language" which are more generic and will be of interest for anybody. Actually, I think the whole book is, even though the poems are centered on aging. It can serve as a wake-up call or help you find the lighter side of the one thing that we all must do, either slowly or quickly...advance in our age!

I enjoyed the book...some of the poems were much more personal for me, at this time, but the spirit of humorous acceptance, no matter what the Body Language is telling you, is a wonderful, yet sensitively presented attempt to share and commiserate with each and every other human being and begin to see it in a lighter, realistic and totally empathetic look at real life--our own!

Highly recommended for yourself or as a gift. Personally, I think it would make a great "waiting room" book for doctors, dentists and others who provide health care services....


GABixlerReviews

About Janet Cameron Hoult

Janet Cameron Hoult, Professor Emerita at California State University, Los Angeles, has lived and traveled all over the world. She attended high school in Iran, and universities in Lebanon, France, and the United States, with teaching assignments in Germany, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and China. Now in her seventies, Dr. Hoult and her husband, Charley, live in Southern California. Her poetry collection Body Parts: A Collection of Poems about Aging, also published by Outskirts Press, won a Reader’s Favorite Award. Proceeds from the sale of Body Language and Body Parts will go to the David Cameron Fisher Memorial Scholarship at CSULA.