World Enough and Time: New and Selected Poems

The current volume offers a retrospective look at Norita Dittberner-Jax's long career as a poet. The themes and images vary, as have the phases of her personal life, though the underlying continuum of family and community connections sustains the flow. Individual poems often strive to establish a coherent shape, a balance, a beauty, in the midst of challenging and sometimes dreadful experiences, including her beloved husband's last years with ALS and her own diagnosis of cancer. Several recent poems offer naked descriptions of the unexpected sanctity of quotidian events, of dealing with solitude and finding the blessing within seemingly vacant hours and days. From first to last, the poet writes of the comfort and beauty of the natural world, describing the rich life she's lived, her love of art, childhood memories, time spent in the classroom and traveling abroad, and the liveliness of the city. Wistfulness, joy, outrage, and desperation: it's all here, flowing with the lyrical pulse of a ancient Psalm.