The title—Remarkable It Is—refers to the poet’s calling to notice things that most of us take for granted (such as our breathing and our hearts beating) but that actually constitute the miracle of our being alive. These poems range from the playfully wistful, to the probingly thoughtful (about old age and the specter of mortality as well as our place in the universe), and the satirical (especially about contemporary politics and world events). The poems in this new collection reflect a “late life” outlook, but they also speak to perennial topics and experiences that readers of all ages should be able to relate to.

Eugene [“Gene”] Stelzig has steadily written and published poetry since his adolescence, including three collections: Fool’s Gold: Selected Poems of a Decade (2008), Assorted Selfscriptings: 1964-1985 (2015), and Walking Through the Four Seasons: An Impromptu Poetry Journal (2021). He has published extensively (both books and articles) in his areas of academic scholarship, Life Writing and Romanticism. His translation of Goethe’s Faust, Part I was published in 2019, and a gathering of his autobiographical essays, True Lies and Short Takes: Assorted Life Writing Essays appeared in 2022.