Anglesea

By Barbara Fitzgerald

Like strands of DNA

Or coiled brain matter,

The toad eggs float

On the pond’s murky surface,

After the full moon’s

Songfest,

Each dark spot

An embryo,

A mark

Barbara Fitzgerald loves words and the ways they can provide perspective on life, the natural world, and our experiences.

In a debut collection of poems penned over fifty years, she shares reflections on a variety of topics related to her life journey that has spanned from her twenties to her seventies. Within diverse original verse, a man contemplates his existence, a mantis hangs deep into January as a fossil of a nightmare under glass, love ends over dinner on a summer night, and white hairs invite candid observations about aging and death. Included is an epilogue that offers a tribute to three generations with touching poems written by her late mother and her daughter.

AngleSea is a volume of original poetry that poignantly explores nature, personal experiences, and the human condition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jul 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665724982

Barbara Fitzgerald

Barbara Fitzgerald has been writing poetry since childhood. She is a professional grant writer who resides with her husband, Roger, in Philadelphia. Barbara has two adult children and three grandchildren. This is her first book of poems.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 Barbara Fitzgerald.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or

by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the

author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of

people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Cover image from a painting by my late mother-in-law, Harriette Fitzgerald

Photography: Eric Fitzgerald

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2497-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2498-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022910659

Archway Publishing rev. date:  07/23/2022

Contents

The Bridge at Lambertville

New Guinea

Existence

Celia on the Banks and a Musician I Know

Muench in the East Wing

Dreams

To a Few

Eyelash

Phobia

Counterplot

When

Vitriol

Lost Balloon

Just We Three

Growth Spurt

Balance

Ever

Now

For Hillary

Amagansett 1

Amagansett 2

Amgansett 3

Ocean Gate

Tree

November

While a Winter Morning Wakes Unbroken

March

Salvage of a Friend Years Ago

Musician

DuPre

Hornets’ Nest

Racing the Light

Bloodless

Courage

This Human Stuff

Four O’clock

Muscle

Gift for a Lost Soul

Creating Ghosts

Thanking Ruth

Quanta

Weeping Cherry

Waiting Room

How the Universe Finds You Like Water

Vanished

Pigeon Man

White

Moving

Sonnet

Angle Sea

A Sense of Light

Elsewhere Close As Breath

EPILOG – THE ART OF THE GENE

Poems by Rachel Light

Rooms

Fixation

But Actually Cancer

Let Down

POEMS BY ADELE GERBER

A Quiet Stream

Untitled

This book is dedicated to my family:

Roger Fitzgerald, Eric Fitzgerald, Jessica Fitzgerald,

Rachel Light, Jonathan Light; Isaac & Nathan Light; Nancy Gerber

Special thanks to my husband, Roger, for his editing and advisory support and his encouragement to publish; and my family and friends who all think this is a wonderful thing to do.

From the author:

I love words, every part of them from sound to rhythm to meaning. Professionally I am a grant writer. These poems span 50 years from my 20s to my 70s. They are not dated or arranged chronologically, but some poems reveal they were written at an earlier time. I