Body Parts by Janet Cameron Hoult Hits Us Where It Hurts--Really!

Our bodies, we were taught in Sunday School, were each a temple to God and we who had asked Him to come live within us were very aware of His presence. Still, unless you are athletically interested, many of us grew away from the Temple concept, didn't we?

Oh, many of us would have a "Come to Jesus" meeting, especially in church-sponsored weight Bible study programs, where we would prayerfully sing for Him to help us prepare our bodies for Him...

But I got to tell you, readers, nothing makes our bodies so intimately ours to consider than when it is aging...and, oftentimes...hurting...a lot! Sure, when we were young, most of us would be bothered by something that was quickly over and we would go back to our daily routines...  It is so much harder to see a young child become seriously ill, isn't it... because it's not what we expect to happen...

But aging? Everybody gets that disease! It may come in different flavors--pains and aches in one spot versus where it is in another's body...But, somehow, it is a comfort that we are not alone in the process our bodies are facing. And from Janet Cameron Hoult, we get some sound advice on how to handle it...Smile through it and even laugh if you can! Her two books on the topic, in poetic form, does a great job in leading our thoughts toward that goal... If you haven't read my review of Body Language, do click over after you finish with this article...

Body Parts:
A Collection of Poems About Aging

By Janet Cameron Hoult

I didn't find it surprising that this book was a winner of a Readers Favorite Award... Like I said earlier, we all have to face aging and it hits us early on or late, I guess partly due to heredity, but each of us can do things differently and affect how aging affects us...

Janet Cameron Hoult tells us to learn how to take it in stride... by simply mastering the pain and anguish and laughing at it! Of course, that isn't easy to do, but I'll wager that if you keep one of Hoult's books laying around...maybe in the throne room where we must all ponder our lives alone and most times in silence... that something within the book will hit home and before you know it, you'll be smiling! Maybe even a chuckle or two!

When I was heading out to get a pic of the cover, I found this blurb description on Amazon...in poetic form! Cool, right?!

BODY PARTS A Collection of Poems about Aging

Which body part will be the next
To make you think that you're a wreck
That you've gone so far over the hill
All you can do is take a pill

But wait! There's something else to try
Something to make you laugh, not cry
It won't add insult to injury
For it's a book of humorous poetry

Poetry designed to help us cope
To make us laugh, to make us hope
And remember that we have lots of "Heart"
Even if we're missing some "Body Parts"

So, pick up a book, find a comfortable chair and laugh along with the author and her poetry about our changing body parts - loss of hair, sight and hearing as well as knees, legs and some internal organs! These poems will tickle your funny bone and help you to remember that although we may be growing old there's life in us yet!

Great enticement for checking out the book, isn't it?! And I will promptly add my high recommendations to each one of you, no matter what your age! Why, I've even found it inspiring enough to create my own little poem, to be sung to the tune of Sanctuary...Hope you don't mind my sharing!

Lord Prepare me.

To accept this body

Old and slowly falling away..

With thanksgiving,

I thank you truly for

sending Janet's inspiration my way...

Lord, somehow you

Gave her needed strength to

Encourage us with humor to laugh

May we find 

Our own way to laugh, Lord

Then to rest with thee...evermore...

~~~

Ok, I admit it, having to deal with my own body issues makes this a much more noteworthy book for me than for maybe some others... But I know there are many others out there who need to feel that somebody's there with you during your periods of being down and depressed... Let Janet Hoult help you through those times... Here's one that brought me a smile...

Have You Seen My Glasses?

Have you seen my glasses?

I know they're here somewhere.

I've already looked in the kitchen

And checked out the lazy boy chair.

Do you think the dog has snagged

Them and hidden them in his bed?

They shouldn't be too hard to find

With frames that are bright, bright red.

Please help me try to find them,

Your eyes are better than mine.

I've looked all over and really don't want

To waste any more time.

You're saying to look in the mirror

And my glasses will be there?

Well isn't that really something,

They they are nestled in my hair?

Thanks for your help in finding them,

Perched on top of my head.

Now I can see to get things done

And not have to work blindly instead.

!!!

Some of you may remember a posted statement of mine to show the humor I had found in this situation...Actually, mine includes more than glasses...it's keys, tea cup...anything I carry from room to room! Anyway, my response to myself to make it less frustrating was:

I've found a good thing about my constantly losing things in my home--my doctor wants me to walk more, so I'm doing what he wants while I wander from room to room trying to find the latest item that I mindlessly placed wherever I last was! LOL - we all have to adjust, don't we?!

Now if you don't mind talking about  every little thing that your body can do to betray you, here's another one that will hit home for women of all ages!

Leaky Pipes

Gone are the days

When I laughed with ease

And chuckled at jokes

Without crossing my knees.

I wish I could bend

Over with grace

And not have to squeeze

The trickle in place.

Oh muscles what happened?

I would like to know.

I want to control

When I need to go!

!!!

Now this little problem has plagued me for years...I even went to a specialist to have those spectacular all-knowing tests... At the end, I learned my bladder didn't evacuate! LOL...OMG... They had put me in a room which was at least 400 square feet... In a lone corner of a room was a toilet and wash basin...Nothing more in the room...Except one other door! Well, you could tell that it obviously opened up into another exam room and I automatically imagined that anybody could come through that other door at any time! Now tell me, would you have waited until your "bladder" was completely empty under those conditions? You guessed it, I never went back...Who was I to explain that their facilities did not allow the privacy that every woman needs to "empty her bladder completely!" Specialist? I didn't think so...

Another doctor told me I should practice Kegels...Do you know that that means? Well, here's Janet Hoult's thoughts on the matter!

Repair Job

Kegels and exercise

Don't do the trick

So, I'm off to the doctor

To get myself fixed.

A snip and a tug,

A mend of a tear,

My doctor has done it.

She's made a repair!

So tell me a joke

Something funny and rare.

I don't lead anymore

I can laugh without care!

~~~

Responsive poetry by me...

Dear Janet, oh Janet, 

you certainly are brave!

If I was much younger,

I just might have caved

When and if a doctor said,

She'd snip and tug, mending a tear

But, now, at my age,

I've accepted my lot,

It just doesn't sound

like a surgery I'd want!

Actually, I've heard many opinions

All different it seems

My mind is at ease...

Leaky Pipes-- 
now, a pit stop, PLEASE!

!!!

Ok, it's obvious, I've enjoyed both humorous collections on the topic of aging by Janet Cameron Hoult... I hope I've convinced you that there's joy and fun in commiserating with another who's just as frustrated with the whole mess as the rest of us!

Highly Recommended!

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.

A little fun before Review... of Body Parts by Janet Cameron Hoult....

Time Accelerates With Age

From Body Parts

by Janet Cameron Hoult

When we're young the minutes drag 

and don't move fast enough.

We wish that time would move along,

that it would hurry up.

For waiting is so hard to do,

impatience is our ticket.

It's nut until we're very old we find a sticky wicket.

For as we age, the minutes seem

to pick up speed each day

And suddenly we find that months

and years have flown away.

What happened to our youth we ask,

those gold days of yore?

It seems to me they took themselves

right out the kitchen door.

And left some lovely memories, 

but also aches and pains.

The time we wish would speed by now

is only when it rains.

When aching joints hurt even more

and we're in agony

As we try to get around with sore back,

feet and knees.

We wish that we could stop the clock or reverse its movement,

For growing old is just a crock

full of disappointment

With aging bodies losing strength,

we could really rage,

But we must accept the fact that

time accelerates with age.

~~~

Tired of Being Tired

I'm tired of being tired

And sick of being sick.

My body parts are locking

When they should be going tick.

They used to be like clockwork

And keep me right on time,

But lately they just let me down

Although I've paid my dime

To all the many doctors

And physical therapists too

Who are supposed to help me out

Not fund there's something new

That's wrong with this old body.

Come on, I need a break

Let's get me healed and all fixed up

So I can have a steak!

~~~

Review Coming!

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.

Another Poem from Janet Cameron Holt - Diabetes, Diabetes...to Tune of Mona Lisa! Yikes!

Diabetes, Diabetes

Try first with Nat King Cole's traditional tune. 
Then try speeding up the tune with Conway Twitty!

More Fun getting it connected, isn't it?!


Diabetes, diabetes, so they call you
You're the blood disease that hasn't any cure
Now I've got you, I can't lose you, Diabetes
And I'm stuck with sticking fingers, that's for sure

When the needle hits my finger, Diabetes
And the blood begins to gather at the spot
How I wish I'd not eaten so much sweet stuff
Or carbohydrates
Or cherry phosphates

Now I've got you, I can't lose you, Diabetes
Although I'll stick my finger
You'll still linger
Here.
~~~

A little Sample before my review...Body Language by Janet Cameron Hoult... "Vertigo Parody"

Vertigo Parody

To the Tune of "Jalousie"

Note: It works out perfectly once you get the starting point and rhythm!

Vertigo, how I wish you'd let me go

So I could stand up without feeling I'll throw up

Everything that I have eaten so far

And what was in the peanut butter jar

When my head turns, my stomach churns

My peace departs

From the moment my head begins to spin

And I surrender to whirling once again

Oh vertigo, please let me go and stop this pain.

~~~