Kathy’s recent collection of poetry, Moment of Departure, has received glowing reviews from poets, parents, and disability advocates.
Poetry has the power to put our most unimaginable feelings, both joy and despair, into words. For most people, having a child with a disability is unimaginable. For those of us who live in this unimaginable space, Kathy Roberson is, then, a kind of hero. She takes her own reality and makes poetry that helps us understand our own reality. With the right words, we can think about what is unthinkable and know about what is unknowable. We can see that we are not alone: the book is a gift of courage.
–Sue Swenson, parent; disability appointee, Obama administration
The very act of writing poetry is an affirmative one, saying no to any force that would destroy the human spirit. A. Poulin’s assessment of the power of poetry found in the early editions of Contemporary American Poetry could have been spoken by Kathy Roberson herself. Moment of Departure is a collection of poems exploring the astounding challenge she and her husband took on over twenty years ago when they decided to adopt a baby with “special needs.” These deeply moving and beautifully crafted poems do, indeed, provide empirical evidence to her own dictum—that poetry helps us to see the fundamental truths that are often hidden in the details of our daily existence. Roberson teaches us not only how to see these often difficult and painful truths, but also how to turn them into art that comforts, heals, and resurrects us.
–Cathy Smith Bowers, author of five collections of poetry and recent Poet Laureate of North Carolina
Kathy offers heartfelt information about the journey of parenting a child with special needs. These poems will touch your soul.
–Cathy Ficker Terrill, parent; CEO The Council on Quality and Leadership
One thought on “Praise for Moment of Departure”