Elder Moon by Cyra Sweet Dumitru

“A sliver of light through the window of a passing life, Elder Moon traces the aging process, the experience of eldercare, and, ultimately, loss, in a delicate and potent dance of words that capture moments unbound by time. A master of metaphoric portraiture, Cyra Dumitru gifts us unforgettable lines worth more than pictures, lines that capture the spiritual essence and the expressions of the transient, physical shell. This series of poems becomes a guidebook to “crisp edges, clean lines that distinguish / where walls end and solid floor begins. / Where to take hold.”  In the tiniest of phrases, a handful of words, she captures the sharp pain and even sharper beauty of the gestures, the grace-filled moments, before death, as a son rests his forehead on that of his fragile, disappearing mother:  “Nothing is spoken./ Everything is said.” In Elder Moon we drink, in Cyra’s simple words, the magic of poetic beauty.”

–Carmen Tafolla, State Poet Laureate of Texas

 “Elder Moon, read in its entirety, is an expression and evocation of unconditional love.  This isn’t a super evolved, steady state! There is struggle and heartbreak, but there is so much to be said for a vulnerable, yet attentive, turning towards life. Cyra’s turning towards—touching life as it is, circumstances and people as they are—these come through in lines and silences of each and every poem. Through bearing witness with and offering care to her mother-in-law, her husband, her family, herself—she is learning how to become a loving human being.

These poems are a gift because they allowed me to enter into that learning which makes the abstract words “unconditional love” real and alive.

This testimonial would be incomplete if I didn’t celebrate in Elder Moon the vivid imagination, love for the natural world, the creative use of the space a poem makes as a living thing, and a mature spirituality.  These are Cyra’s treasured companions from the start and each helps to inform this book of healing poems.”

–John Fox, President, The Institute for Poetic Medicine