Equanimity

Ed Ryterband’s Equanimity is a large embrace of life. These poems are tender, poignant, funny and sensuous. The author revisits moments from his own life in an engaging, relatable, and sometimes mischievous voice. His photographer’s eye looks up to find ＂cumulus tourists / lollygagging in the sky.＂He recalls his childhood self, fleeing with a friend after a transgression, ＂like antelopes / across the night lawn / back to hide among our herd of grownups...＂ The poems show gratitude for the past, and surprise at present developments, such as the ＂tickle from that tuft of nose hair,＂ a reminder of his eighty-plus years. We feel how sustaining memories are, how they lay a foundation to support the courage that aging into a long life requires. This is a book that will stay close to your heart.

-Joy Kreves, author, Nature of the Beast, Managing Editor, US1 Worksheets

Ed Ryterband’s most recent collection provides a window into the poet’s ongoing exploration of unflinching personal observations that take wing and affirm us all. The introspective moments captured in these pages shine so brightly around love of family and upon the process of relationships, wherever they are found in our lives. As Ed observes, ＂Things are just as they are.＂ He helps us gain brave comfort as we confront, through his writings, our mortal selves. His intrepid voice guides us through - and toward - the gritty, the bittersweet, and the beautiful.

-Louise Cavanaugh Sciannameo, Associate Provost, University of Pittsburgh

I was surprised when Ed asked me to review the book and share my reactions to it. I’m not a poet. I found new rewards when I dug deeper into the poems than I usually do when I read poetry. The poems here cover topics that are important in all our lives: growing up, growing old, loving, losing loved ones. The poems are not illusive in their meaning. But through their artful storytelling, their directness, they get and keep the reader’s attention. The poet reveals a rich understanding and appreciation for being alive that we can all connect to. His poems reflect the meaning of the title Equanimity; Calmness married to Insight about the way things are.

-Tim Williams, SVP and General Counsel, Vanda Pharmaceuticals