Smell the Roses: Poems of Eleanor (Elly) Vasak

“Smelling the roses” is exactly how Elly Vasak has lived her life. She thoroughly enjoys, and expresses through her poems, the beauties of nature and the experience of “simply being human” each day. Descending from a family of weavers from Wales, Elly has followed the Welsh tradition of writing poems about every conceivable topic throughout her life: by noticing the little things people do and say, the wise or funny tidbits of conversation, the “twists and turns” in daily life that we all experience, and by responding to timely topics in the news, holidays or season. Here, in her third collection of poetry, Smell the Roses, Elly has woven a tapestry of delightful poems written between 2000 to 2013. Often, she says, one thought would be the spark or key to a new insight, and maybe a new poem. As a friend commented, “Select any subject matter and within an hour Elly Vasak can create a beautiful poem! Such creative imagination...!” As a member of “the greatest generation,” Elly wrote these poems for a particular group of readers—retired people, couples and singles—(who might catch a few extra innuendos and) who perhaps have a little bit of extra time to enjoy these soulful, touching, romantic, and sometimes witty poems.