Old Age is Just ''a Play on Words'': a Celebration for the Young at Heart

Old Age is Just "A Play on Words" is providing me a grand opportunity to perform a literary song and dance in honor of people whom I have admired and respected throughout the years. Many of these people have been older relatives, friends, and acquaintances who have been a great influence in my life and in the lives of others. I have endeavored to honor them against a thematic backdrop of agelessness which they all represent. They deserve to be celebrated because of their wisdom, knowledge, wit, and zeal for living wholesome and exuberant lives, in spite of the social, environmental, and health related obstacles that they encountered. The poem, "Lonnie", is based on the actual words spoken by an older gentleman who proudly expressed to me his leisure-time activities. I immediately thought, "These are age old occurrences because old age is just 'a play on words.'" My fondness for "good southern living" was the inspiration for the section entitled "Call Me Country All You Wanna". Furthermore, my appreciation of my southern upbringing is woven in the other three sections of the book, Age of Contradictions, Old Fashioned Genuine Love, and Let Every Tongue Confess.(Ron Parker) Ron Parker's spirited collection of poems shows us how universal a celebration of the human experience can be. This body of work gives real-life people an opportunity to re-experience their hopes, dreams, ups, and downs which are so familiar to mankind. Each poem will touch where the crux of passion and zeal for life dwells. This modern day Wordsworth pens a style that is direct, pointed, and committed to delineating the vivid mental images that will strike a chord of "I Remember" in the minds of every reader.(Dr. Azalie B. Hightower)