The Seeker Ascends

The poems in this book trace the emotional and spiritual journey of a woman whose beloved son dies after an arduous battle with cancer. Nudelman explores the nexus between art, healing, and truth. As the woman gradually climbs out of grief’s darkness she reclaims her own life’s purpose. Confronting her losses, she heals. This collection is about strength, survival, love, and the healing that comes from self-empowerment through speaking one’s own truth and releasing the past. Inspired by art and nature, the poet/mother reconnects with her own fortitude and the possibilities that still exist.

“It is gratifying to read poetry that cares about devotion and dignity, by a poet who is capable of lyric sensibility with bold and fearless reach. Merle Nudelman addresses the enigmas of illness, loss, vision and forgiveness in language lit with commitment: “Freed of pretense the woman scales boulders / bowed above delusion’s waters: / aqua vortex twisting fact, its spoken solace.”

—Elana Wolff, author of Everything Reminds You of Something Else.

“These are poems of maturity that grapple with life’s terrible losses – the legacy of the Holocaust, a beloved son to cancer. With candour and grace, they move knowingly through pain to resilience and calm. In this reflective collection, nature and art are elevating; they offer solace and point the way back to the poet’s ‘prepotent’ self.”

—Ruth Panofsky, editor of The New Spice Box: Canadian Jewish Writing

“In The Seeker Ascends, Merle Nudelman dares to tackle the most painful question of all, how to come to terms with the loss of a child. Drawing on Judeo/Christian, pagan, and new-age mysticism lexica and lenses, Nudelman pushes for answers until her narrator ultimately reconciles with her fate—”[Despite] Devotion to the power of three three three./Still, at thirty-three her son dies.” What follows is an unstoppable poetics of energy and life force that bursts and thrusts with linguistic force all in defiance of death. Yet despite everything, the narrator can no longer heal her dying son, and finally surrenders to the question of “What now?” finding both peace and forgiveness.”

— Laura Lush, author of Carapace