A review by pattydsf
Adventure of Ascent: Field Notes from a Lifelong Journey by Luci Shaw
4.0
”To get older is to watch the door close inch by inch
against my will so that the inflow of silky air
stops, and the creek’s subtleties of sound
in the small house of my ear I listen closely to
the message of blood, knowing others are deaf to it.”
I have read a few of Shaw’s poems. I know that Shaw was a close friend of Madeline L’Engle, who has been one of my heroes for some time. However, I really didn’t know much about Luci Shaw herself. Which meant I was intrigued by this title when I saw it in the library catalog.
Shaw is a brave woman. Beside the fact that she still tent camps at 84 and travels quite a bit, she is brave because she is honest. I am not a writer for many reasons, but one of them is that writers should be scrupulously true to themselves and their readers. I don’t think I could do that. However, Shaw does. She tells about her faith and her doubts, her questions and the possible answers that come to her. Shaw talks about her health and the changes in her life. She says at the beginning of this volume that she will share her life as she reaches the summit. For this reader, she does this in a very admirable and authentic way.
I am glad I took a flyer and checked this book out. I may go and find more books by Shaw. She is a fascinating woman.
Exit
When you go,
will you go with a sizzle –
a spiteful spitting on a
hot plate,
a jig of steam?
With a crystal sigh on a beach
to leave a bubble?
Or will your trickle
run, thin, silver,
to the open ocean?
against my will so that the inflow of silky air
stops, and the creek’s subtleties of sound
in the small house of my ear I listen closely to
the message of blood, knowing others are deaf to it.”
I have read a few of Shaw’s poems. I know that Shaw was a close friend of Madeline L’Engle, who has been one of my heroes for some time. However, I really didn’t know much about Luci Shaw herself. Which meant I was intrigued by this title when I saw it in the library catalog.
Shaw is a brave woman. Beside the fact that she still tent camps at 84 and travels quite a bit, she is brave because she is honest. I am not a writer for many reasons, but one of them is that writers should be scrupulously true to themselves and their readers. I don’t think I could do that. However, Shaw does. She tells about her faith and her doubts, her questions and the possible answers that come to her. Shaw talks about her health and the changes in her life. She says at the beginning of this volume that she will share her life as she reaches the summit. For this reader, she does this in a very admirable and authentic way.
I am glad I took a flyer and checked this book out. I may go and find more books by Shaw. She is a fascinating woman.
Exit
When you go,
will you go with a sizzle –
a spiteful spitting on a
hot plate,
a jig of steam?
With a crystal sigh on a beach
to leave a bubble?
Or will your trickle
run, thin, silver,
to the open ocean?