Customer Reviews:

• "What a nice concept for a chapbook, poems written after one has turned eighty! I really like the simplicity of that theme. As a fan of Emily Romano's, I would like to give the reasons I enjoyed her latest chapbook, AFTER EIGHTY. I recently finished reading numerous chapbooks put out by free verse poets. But as much as I enjoy a good free verse poem, I sometimes find this style a bit difficult to fathom. I'll be reading lines and then realize my focus has strayed and I don't even know what I am reading anymore! When I found out Ms. Romano was publishing another chapbook, I was excited to see it because I so love her way of writing poetry of the unrhymed variety, and I imagined it was a book of that style. When I began reading the poems in AFTER EIGHTY, however, I quickly realized the poems were almost all rhymed poems. I have nothing against rhyme. I just want to see it done well, and I am happy to report that, true to form, Emily has done rhyme right! Her poetry has good meter, and the clear descriptive style of the poems in this chapbook made this book a joy for me to read. I liked how I was able to sit down and read through it in a short time and not find myself struggling to understand anything at all. Just to be in the moment reading a small book of uncomplicated but well-written and thoughtful poetry, for me, is a pure delight.

AFTER EIGHTY offers up a variety of themes, beginning with verse that reflects her childhood memories and then moving on to poems of the imagination or of nature, with a little humor sprinkled in to some of them! Finally, I like the way the book finishes with an acknowledgment page of the poems that won awards in Shadow Poetry contests. I was able to recognize some of them as favorites of mine I am already familiar with, those in particular being beautiful reflective pieces such as "Thoughts by the Bay," "September Song," "Send Me," and "When Dew Lay Soft Upon the Grass." I was able to read other poems in her chapbook for which I think she could also win awards. Some of these were the poems "A Sense of Home," "Portrait of a Virgin," November Thoughts," a humorous one entitled "The Cat in Winter," a melancholy soulful one called "Sometimes," and a playful cute poem relating herself to dancers: "The Exception." If you are a person who enjoys quality rhyming poetry, you will find something sure to please you in AFTER EIGHTY." - Andrea Dietrich

• "I love everything about After Eighty from the delightfully simple brush drawing on the cover (my Zennist art professor in college would have said it "lives," which it truly does) to the last poem, which serves as the poet's reflective overview of her life.

There's a home-y-ness about this collection, yet it reveals Emily's broad range of character from down-home to mystic. She has her feet planted in the past, present and future while she moves freely between them. I can relate to "Rugged Ma," remembering my own mother braiding rugs from scraps. "Buttercups," one of my favorites, focuses on the present moment. "From the Leg Bone of a Swan" contains past, present, and future, down-home and mystical, all magically interwoven into a solidly written poem. Is it an unconscious self-portrait of the poet?

After Eighty is a nice insight into the life of Emily Romano. We are fortunate she shares it with us." - Carolyn Thomas

• "AFTER EIGHTY by Emily Romano is a wonderful addition to her previous eight chapbooks, all available from Shadow Poetry/Shadows Ink Publications. And whether you are familiar with her work or new to it, you will find much to enjoy here. Emily is my mother so I am particularly pleased to see included several poems about her childhood and biographical ones of her parents, grandfather, teachers and others that have influenced her life and her writing. One of my favorites is “A Walk in the Woods” which tells a story about a memory of her father:

            One summer day we walked together,
            Enjoying balmy skies and weather;
            Spotting a snake, a blue-black beauty,
            He pinned it down, and with this booty,
            Began to wrap it around my leg –
            Eleven coils, smooth as an egg!

Throughout this book of mostly rhyming poems, you will sense the author’s deep respect for nature, people, and places that linger in her heart. “September Song” is one of these:

            The gourds are heavy on the vine,
            The grapes are ripened for the wine,
            The nights are cool, the days are fine,
            New Jersey in September.

Some poems evoke a sense of mystery as in “Up In The Rafters”, “Signposts”, “The Minstrel Band”, and “Will-O’-The-Wisp”. Others tell a story as in “My Pony”, “Precognition”, “When Skies Were Dark” and “The Rainbow’s Power”. All are well crafted and a pleasure to read.

AFTER EIGHTY is the perfect companion book to enjoy with a cup of cocoa or curled up in front of a crackling fire. Emily’s poems unfold effortlessly as in this excerpt from “Sometimes”:

            Sometimes when my heart is aching,
            Feeling on the verge of breaking,
            I turn to lovely memories
            To bring my heart a bit of ease;
            These are the memories I keep
            To comfort me when I can’t sleep:
            Wisteria with bumblebees,
            And lilac-scented velvet breeze;

AFTER EIGHTY takes us on a remarkable passage where, as in the final poem, “Rainbow Journey”, all colors blend. I highly recommend AFTER EIGHTY." - Margaret R. Smith