About the book
This is the third book of poems for Dr. Nicholson. Her work is centered
on the mystery and rich gifts of practicing medicine as an Ob-Gyn, and
learning from the interactions with many women's lives as their physician.
In this book, there are two poems which are autobiographical, "I am from
California", and "My Grandmother and Molly Bloom". There are two
poems dealing with her mother's advanced age-- "Beyond 80" and "The Celtic
Knot". One poem deals with delivering a baby-- "In Praise of the
Birthing Vacuum". There are several poems which deal with myths and
fairytales, one of which is "Beauty and the Beast" and another is "Orpheus
and Eurydice". Several poems have to do with music. The poems
are meant to be read by real people, and are not written for an academic
audience. They are accessible, and most people enjoy them.
Author's Statement:
My father was an artist. As a child, I played the violin, and since
my teens, I have played the guitar and written songs, and I love to sing.
So color, tone, and musical lyricism are very important to me. The way
our minds are like a landscape, the way things which are beautiful call
to us, and teach us about the most important things in life, are part of
what I try to address in each poem. I think I am painting with poetry.
One of the clearest poems in the book to express this is "Angel with the
lute". The title poem, "Bread for the Stardust Pilgrims" is a statement
of faith. I am a Christian, deeply connected to Christ as my savior.
The last line in the poem is the same as the last line in the New Testament.
I am also a person who has travelled widely, and I understand the different
dogmas and faiths of other people in a respectful and hopeful way.
I tried to put this understanding in "Pray five times a day", and "Not
Dogma". I lived with Orthodox Jewish people in Brooklyn for 4 years,
and "The Key to the House in Toledo" is my way of talking about the
deep Jewish longing for home. The most helpful poem to some may be
"Practicing Detachment". This poem is about everything one wants
to have enriching one as we are dying. It is a concrete list for
anyone who wants to ease the death of a loved one.
Sample of the Work:
Bread for the Stardust Pilgrims
Holding the dandelion seeds
Of our own resurrection,
We are the stardust pilgrims:
Oxygen, nitrogen,
Carbon and hydrogen,
Kissed by sunlight,
Remixed and reborn.
Flesh blossoming from the muddy earth,
Barefoot on the journey,
Bones (sometimes weary) singing the truth:
We are stardust,
we are pilgrims;
Calcium and amino acids,
Air and water.
This bread is ours,
Wheat from the fields,
Golden as grain in summer.
This wine, transforming us
As we walk along,
On the way to the wedding feast,
Hoping for miracles,
Laughing for joy.
About the Author
Dr. Nicholson is a practicing physician in Santa Cruz California.
Her major was philosophy, and after college she was a health educator in
the Peace Corps, in Paraguay. She went to medical school in Guadalajara
Mexico. She is fluent in Spanish. She spent 4 years in training
in Brooklyn New York, at Maimonides Hospital. She has two sons, and
is married. The meaning of health and illness, and the mysteries
within the doctor-patient relationship, as well as the concerns of being
a woman, wife and mother, are her primary focus as a poet. She had
an almost fatal car accident in 2004, and a miraculous recovery from a
broken back.
Return to top
Return to Old Mountain Press
Books In Print
|
