Stopping for Breath

Stopping for Breath, the fourth poetry collection by Norita Dittberner-Jax, moves through the sunlight and shadows of a life lived intensely, with both conscience and a rare sensitivity to those brief moments of delight that so often arrive unexpectedly and linger hardly at all. In one poem she expresses her appreciation for the old trees that distinguish a coffee shop terrace on a near-perfect Saturday morning; in another, she describes leading a tour for children at an art museum--they love the brass elevator best. But there are also peace vigils, an observant look at the social interactions of a neighborhood gym, poems about cats and dogs, and near-metaphysical musings that call Wislawa Szymborska to mind. Bit by bit, Dittberner-Jaxs childhood years come into sharper focus, and the wonderful life of travel and commitment she shares with her husband. Before IKEA Delivers the Bed for example, is a remembrance, short and sweet, of seventy-two hundred nights spent together--some in snoring, others in bliss.