A NOTEWORTHY LIFE AND DEATH

by Judith Offer

She spent her life

Looking

For the music in it,

Not realizing

She should have been

Listening instead.

At least you tried

Said God

As she floated into the robe.

He hummed a few bars.

That’s it she said.

That’s it!  That’s it!

* * * * *

Judith Offer has had two daughters, five books of poetry and dozens of plays. (Eighteen of the latter, including six musicals, have been produced.)  She has read her poetry at scores of poetry venues, but is particularly delighted to have been included in the Library of Congress series and on “All Things Considered,” on NPR.  Her writing reflects her childhood in a large Catholic family—with some Jewish roots—her experience as teacher, community organizer, musician, historian, gardener, and all-purpose volunteer, and her special fascination with her roles of wife and mother.  Her most recent book of poetry, called DOUBLE CROSSING, is poems about Oakland, California, where she lives with her husband, Stuart.