I went to a reading on the “Poetry of Aging” at the Amherst Senior Center on Thursday.  John Berkowitz and Pat Schneider were the featured reading poets, although both shared many poems of other poets.

Pat Schneider is a Pioneer Valley fixture as a founder of Amherst Writers and Artists and author of 10 books of prose and poetry. She read, “Truth Enough,” a poem about aging that won First Prize in the Kudzu Poetry Contest and several other writers from the well-known Mary Oliver to local June Gillam.  John Berkowitz read “Old Ones” about people and trees from his book of poetry, Saving and Savoring the World, as well as several other local poets. Schneider and Berkowitz were a delightful combination.  Berkowitz does readings on aging at various places in the valley and Schneider also comes out occasionally to read.  Look for both of them under “Readings” in local papers.