The Caregiver: Poems - Softcover

Johnson, Caroline

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0998601039 ISBN 13: 9780998601038

Publisher: Holy Cow! Press, 2018

Synopsis

The Caregiver is Caroline Johnson's first full-length publication. It includes 50 poems that were inspired by the 15 years she devoted to taking care of her aging parents. The gathering includes free verse, lyrical poems, prose poetry and some formal verse. Many of the poems won contests and have been previously published in online print journals and anthologies. The poems touch on the topic of grieving but go beyond and focus on the many difficulties a caregiver experiences―both emotional and physical―yet also recognize the spiritual gifts that come with helping a loved one. Caregiving is a significant issue for our times and will only become more important as our population ages.

About this title

About the Author:

Caroline Johnson observed both of her parents suffer crippling illnesses such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Rheumatoid Arthritis in the 15 years she spent as family caregiver. During that time she wrote poetry as a way to grieve and celebrate their lives. This book is the culmination of that effort. She has published two poetry chapbooks, My Mother’s Artwork and Where the Street Ends, and more than 70 poems. Her awards include winning the 2012 Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row Poetry Contest, nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and prizes in state and national competitions. A former English teacher, she works as an academic advisor for a Chicago area community college. One of her favorite activities in the past was watching James Bond movies with her father, who served in the U.S. Air Force as a bomber pilot during the Cold War in the 1950s as part of the Strategic Air Command (SAC). Please visit www.caroline-johnson.com

Review:

"These are skilled poems of Johnson's own journey, and they speak movingly to the similar journeys of millions of caregivers." --Robin Smith Chapman, Michigan Quarterly Review

"After viewing Abraham Lincoln's deathbed at the Chicago History Museum, Caroline Johnson's speaker addresses her father in the poem "The Last Bed" with these lines: "And who will deliver your Emancipation Proclamation? Will I be holding your cold, / frail hand when you decide to leave this land?"  It's a poignant moment in her book, The Caregiver, a portrait of parents struggling to live with what dignity remains as their bodies and minds fail them in a host of ways--her father suffering from Multiple System Atrophy, and her mother from Alzheimer's. It's also a vivid gallery of a daughter's self-portrait as caregiver."  --Gail Goepfert, Rhino Reviews

"As poet and reader, I appreciate and applaud the well-executed craft of Caroline's unblinking recollections... I find The Caregiver to be honest, both a painful and relieving read. Those who have walked these paths will find reason in the fifty-one poems here to both smile and cry, and I believe will find their time with another traveler amply rewarded. Those who have not yet set out will do well to remember Johnson's words when they need guidance one day." --Lennart Lundh, Highland Park Poetry

"In 1983, at the young age of 58, my father fell victim to a brainstem stroke. This debilitating event placed Dad in hospice care, where he passed one month later. Caroline Johnson's new collection, The Caregiver, brought to mind my daily visits to the hospice unit, sitting beside him, hoping for a response but receiving virtually nothing that opened the door of opportunity to bid my father goodbye. " --Michael Escoubas, Quill and Parchment

About this edition

• Publisher: Holy Cow! Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0998601039
• ISBN 13: 9780998601038
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 88