Arithmetic and Other Verses from Late in Life is a simple book of reflection, observation and pause. Local writer Sally Zakariya wrote this first book of poetry late in her life, and the work could be compared to Virginia Hamilton Adair in the simplicity and wisdom that comes from living long and fully.
These poems, written in short-to-medium lines that break where one might expect punctuation, are easily accessible and poignant, short ditties that often end with an unexpected punch, making the reader either chuckle or think, if not both. This is perhaps Zakariya’s way of expressing to her readers that life takes unexpected turns in its path of the status quo, and to take those turns with a bit of humor.
The poems strip away all reasons and stories and excuses about life and gets right to the point, from encounters with old lovers to the undring persistence of a cicada's timeline, from a dead tree's fate to a lightening bug's wandering, from Fredericksburg to Bluemont, life happens; the details are unneccessary.
While this is her first poety collection, Zakariya had a career as a magazine editor and a writer, so she is not new to the wonders of language. The words Zakariya uses to describe her various topics seem relatively ordinary, her lines are free of metaphor and only scattered with simile, but still the words she uses will surprise and smack the reader into attention. Arithmetic and Other Verses from Late in Life, which feels as thin as a chapbook but as full as a book-length collection, is 66 pages and published by Richer Resources Publications.
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