NATURE & LIFE: A POETIC JOURNEY is a soulful collection of reflective poems inspired by our beautiful natural environment, that furnishes the foundation of all our lives, and by family, friends, places, and events that are common to folks everywhere. Jeanette’s varied topics and spontaneous overflow of moods and feelings take you on a journey through nature and the seasons and provide an opportunity to vicariously experience love, joy, heartache, inspiration, and perhaps a generous measure of uplifting.
Included are personal photographs of me, family, friends, and landscapes to complement various poems.
Excerpt Dedicated to:
Spc. David Miller, US ARMY
and all veterans
whose lives have been irrevocably changed by their heroic and unselfish dedication to serving their country
The Bravest Battle
The Gulf War Battle and Anti-Nerve Gas
Left wounded soldiers in its wake,
Young innocent men disabled for life
With fragments of broken lives to remake.
Their dignity and character oft gone unrecognized
When residing inside the private well of pain
Where one’s intimate and personal world
Is a lonely challenge that seems all in vain.
The soldier’s heart craves health and normalcy
Which they’ll never suffice to have again
Bearing the brunt of war-torn bodies
Making the most of life—doing the best they can.
The ultimate bravery of an afflicted soldier
Found in silent nobility seldom observed
Is the aftermath of fighting bravely for his country
Struggling with a shattered life beyond repair.
Greatness grows from the torment of misery
While building strength and fortitude to survive
Inspired by his struggle to glean satisfaction
Despite trials he must bear to simply stay alive.
And so, picking up the pieces of existence
Putting a disabled life back together if he can
Marks insurmountable greatness that a soldier has
The greatest battle of all—the bravery of a man.
"Nature & Life: A Poetic Journey" begins with a softly beautiful cover that I’m comfortable and proud to display on my family room table. What follows next is not a surprise but shares more than I could have imagined: A collection of original literary pieces that sooths my nature, inspires my faith in God and humankind, reminds me of the value and pleasure of family and friends and offers insight and mature counseling for the problems we all face every day.
Next come the truly remarkable poems of perception and viewpoint to guide us in life in general with words that depict our challenge to choose good or bad to set the paths in life we may take “to create a flower garden of life or a patch of weeds.”
Remarkable poet and scribe Jeanette Cooper closes her beautiful work with the emotion-packed poem “Time Slips Away” and the prophetic Epilogue “Roads of Life” to leave us to ponder and choose with enhanced vision that which will be.
Thank you Jeanette Cooper for "Nature & Life: A Poetic Journey," one of the absolute finest gifts I ever gave myself. I love this book!
This collection of poetry addresses the nature of time, reflections on the natural world, the difficulty of loss,
contemporary social issues and gratitude for life.
This is a book of free verse poetry that addresses the seven main tests in life and offers some sensible solutions to passing those tests with minimal discomfort.
