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Life’s Journey
READING BOB AMBROSE JR.’S REFLECTIVE POETRY
By Jessica Smith arts@flagpole.com
Tenderly personal yet immediately rent
able, the sage poetry of local writer Bob
Ambrose Jr. demonstrates a deep reverence
for both the natural and spiritual worlds.
His newly published collection of poems,
Journey to Embarkation, grace
fully navigates among life’s g
most blissful memories and ^
challenging moments. Pulling £
inspiration from experiences
throughout his 67 years, his
poetry explores universal
themes of loss, growth and
remembrance.
“I have had a happy life,
nurtured by a close family,
a belief in the sciences and
faith in a progressive, spiritual
Christianity,” says Ambrose.
“There is a sweet melancholy in
the passage of time, but what
remains is a basic faith in the
goodness of life. I hope that
both moods are captured in
this book, and that readers will
discover similar feelings in the
details of their own lives.”
Though he enjoyed the
works of classical poets such as
Wordsworth, Frost and Yeats
during his undergraduate stud
ies, Ambrose’s personal venture
into poetry came much later in
life. From the time he entered
graduate school to the time he
retired from the Environmental
Protection Agency in 2009,
he led a busy life balancing his
career, family and personal
pursuits. It wasn’t until a life
changing event—the passing of
his father, whom he had been
taking care of in his home—when Ambrose,
overcome by emotion, found his own voice
as a poet.
“Two days later, while running in the
early morning, verses about his life and
death came pouring into my head, and
I had to write,” says Ambrose. “A pastor
friend, Wesley Stephens, read the result
ing poem, A Summer Morning’s Leave,’ at
his memorial service. Later that summer, I
started capturing thoughts and feelings in
poetry and sharing with friends and family.”
Encouraged by a friend, Ambrose read
some of his poems at Athens Word of
Mouth, a monthly open-mic night at the
Globe, for the first time in January 2011.
It was here that he met the group’s late
founder, Aralee Strange—to whom he
dedicates one of his poems—along with a
tight-knit community of unique voices who
welcomed him in.
“I believe that monthly participation
in spoken-word poetry at the Globe has
helped me develop a more rhythmic and
musical element to the poems in this book,”
says Ambrose.
In addition to the open mic, the aspiring
poet began attending weekly workshops
at Donderos’ Kitchen, where fellow writ
ers such as Mark Bromberg, David Noah
and David Oates gather to critique each
other’s pieces. Over the past three years
of attending these meetings, Ambrose
pulled together a manuscript that would
later become published as his poetry book.
Within this time, Ambrose also attended
monthly poetry salons hosted by Michelle
Castleberry, which further provided invalu
able fellowship and feedback for
sharpening his expressions.
Journey to Embarkation is
divided into three sections, each
reflecting on a different aspect
of a life’s journey. Exploring the
theme of departure, the first
is a bittersweet collection of
poems reminiscing on youthful
memories and saying goodbye
to loved ones. The section’s title
poem, “A Farewell to Summer,”
is a moving piece describing
Ambrose’s mother’s final trip
to the beach as she sets out to
“go her way into autumn with
the grace of summer, clutching
lightly to the backs of tiny boys
grown tall in the sunshine of
her life.” Just as most adults
must inevitably see their par
ents off to their final resting
place, many must also relin
quish control of the next gen
eration as they leave the nest,
a proud yet emotional moment
relayed in “To Our Children
Leaving Home.”
Ambrose’s two main chap
ters of work are separated by
“To Cross the Northern Tier,” a
series of five poems that illus
trate the solo cross-country
bicycle trek of his neighbor
Carol Myers. From Anacortes,
WA all the way to Orr’s Island,
ME, Ambrose followed along
online as his friend chronicled her daily
experiences through a blog. Presented in
her voice, the poems demonstrate the talent
of an imaginative and deeply empathetic
writer capable of channeling the perspec
tives of others.
The third and final section of Ambrose’s
book travels around the world, preserving
some of his strongest memories of people
and places within its pages. The collection of
poems serves as an international passport
of sorts, marking the arrivals and depar
tures between a handful of destinations.
During his career with the EPA, Ambrose
often shared lectures, short courses or
peer reviews with colleagues in countries
like Egypt, Turkey and China. Along with
other members of the Athens First United
Methodist Church, he also went on mis
sion trips to Costa Rica to assist in building
homes for Nicaraguan refugees. Personal
trips led him to visit family in California,
Massachusetts and Vermont.
The book takes its title from the final
poem, which describes a midnight bus ride
from Daejeon, South Korea, where Ambrose
had been teaching, to the international
airport in Incheon, where he would soon
catch a flight out of the country. “That
night journey in a ‘far country’ seemed like
an apt metaphor for our lives,” he says.
“Throughout our lives, we are in the process
of departing, drifting, journeying, arriving.
But we are also moving inexorably to our
time of final leaving, our embarkation.” The
final stanza concludes:
My brothers, we are bodies
becoming spirit, forever drifting
mid-transit. We are always
awaiting embarkation.
We have always already
arrived.
The next chance to hear Ambrose read
his poetry will be during Athens Word of
Mouth on Wednesday, Sept. 7 from 8-11
p.m. at the Globe. The following week, he
will be a featured writer at “Poetry and
Nature: A Natural History Reading,” slated
for Wednesday, Sept. 14 from 7-10 p.m.
at the UGA Special Collections Library.
Co-sponsored by Friends of the Georgia
Museum of Natural History and Athens
Word of Mouth, the evening also includes
readings by four-time Georgia Author of
the Year Philip Lee Williams, Clela Reed and
John Pickering. If those two opportunities
pass you by, you can also catch Ambrose
occasionally sharing poetry with the Nature
Ramblers, a group of writers who meet at
8 a.m. on Thursday mornings at the State
Botanical Garden.
Journey to Embarkation is available locally
at Avid Bookshop or online at Amazon and
Parson’s Porch Books, the latter of which
donations a portion of proceeds to charity.
More of the author’s work can be found on
his blog, Reflections in Poetry, at bobam-
brosejr-poetry.blogspot.com. ©
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16 FLAGPOLE.COM-AUGUST 31, 2016