Minds Changing: Still Here

Cogan, Nancy Adams

Primary Category: Literature / Poetry

Genre: Poetry

Annotated by:
Kohn, Martin
  • Date of entry: Jan-12-2016

Summary

Chaplain-poet Nancy Adams-Cogan's 3rd chapbook of poems complements her earlier work as "a receiver of stories" (p.1). The theme for this collection of 39 poems is dementia and the poems are smartly accompanied by a number of photos by Rod Stampe.  What comes through in these poems is the deep humanity of those who struggle with memory loss—both the individual experiencing it directly and the family members or caregivers accompanying them on their journey. Adams-Cogan captures well the "many faces" of dementia and how those faces "may vary day-by-day-by-day" (p.84). The poet also takes a close look at her aged and aging selves in the poems "Myself in Decline" and "Entanglements."

Commentary

Playwright Jennifer Fawcett's The Broken Chord features a chaplain based on Adams-Cogan and uses some of her text in her play. Another source (a multi-authored anthology) in the database focusing on memory loss issues is Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer's Disease (Hughes, Holly, J., ed.)

Publisher

Ice Cube Press

Place Published

North Liberty, IA

Page Count

84