Words to Lift By

By Bob Gold and Ryan Ashley

Amid the disruption of the pandemic shutdown, Bob Gold sought a way to connect with people amidst the separation, isolation, and growing uncertainty. Teaming up with poet Ryan Ashley, the duo created a series of poems to celebrate family and friends. The works in Words to Lift By capture the spirit of its subjects in poignant and heartf

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bob Gold and Associates
• Release date: Jul 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781088062975

Bob Gold

Bob Gold is a storyteller. His kids, family, friends, and clients have been gifted with poems composed to recognize their heroic living in the day-to-day of the pandemic. But mostly he tells stories about his clients through his public relations and marketing agency, Bob Gold & Associates (www.bobgoldpr.com). If you ever want to hear a story, joke, or really interesting piece of trivia, just ask him. And when it comes to words-he will tell you how very special you are.

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Words to Lift By

Words to Lift By

Bob Gold & Ryan Ashley

Introduction

chapter

Poetry is typically the touchstone that we go back to when we have to remind ourselves of the history that we stand on, and the history that we stand for.

—Amanda Gorman’s observation about

poetry she wrote shortly after the

presidential inauguration

We need poetry most at those moments when life astounds us with losses, gains, or celebrations. We need it most when we are most hurt, most happy, most downcast, most jubilant. Poetry is the language we speak in times of greatest need.

—Erica Jong

Touched by poetry, language is more fully language and at the same time is no longer language: it is a poem.

—Octavio

All poetry is a call to action.

—Amor Towl

Poetry is music written for the human voice.

—Maya Angelou

Why write these poems? In the middle of March 2020, our country, our world was shutting down. The pandemic, which we were all so unprepared for, created a time of deep dark fear and anxiety. In another life, back in the before time, I would usually write a check to a charity to address the latest outrage and wrongness in our society.

But which charity is ready to change people’s hearts when there was no reassurance? During my darkest moment, I cried aloud, and said through tears to my wife who I kept in an urn in my family room, Marcia, I am so glad you aren’t here. This is just too scary and terrible.

But I couldn’t do nothing. And the universe came to me in an email from a poet whom I had never met. Ryan Ashley was offering his services to write a custom poem on demand! It was such an unusual pitch that I thought about it and called him. Although Ryan lives in North Carolina, and we had never met, we started this unusual collaboration.

I would tell Ryan