Poetry. "Rose Drachler's first published poems appeared when she was in her fifties. She is such a remarkable poet that it makes me wonder why all poets don't wait until they're fifty. Her work contains the lucid simplicity of a parable--if it's well told--easily leads you into (and through) familiar realms only to deposit you at the edge of a great mystery. Her rigorously crafted work is layered in what is sacred and transformational. Her poetry welcomes the immediate world with wisdom and tenacity; it is a marvelous decoding of appearances that illuminates the very heart of our awareness"--Gregory Kolovakos (in presenting The American Book Award 1981 on behalf of The Before Columbus Foundation).