My desire is to remain alive in generations beyond my lifetime. Much of my work is experiential. Feeling empathy towards people's grief and pain was conveyed to poetry. My poetry speaks to thoughtless, cruel treatment of animals not treated as sentient beings, even those feeling and trusting creatures of the sea. Nature, love, friendships, retirement, African American men, birth and death are reflected in "Legacy of Poems"Downsizing elicited stinging rebuke from my pen. Subtle advice is expended, but the last poem becomes overt. I received merit awards for the Sound of Poetry and was included in Best Poetry of the Year four times and also in Celebration of Poets, a showcase edition. Book Review Reviewer: Cindy Skelton, High School Teacher [email protected] 650.343.7269 Angela Kiel Willoughby's Legacy of Poems spring from her life experiences and observations. The first section of poems feel familiar as she writes about her family and growing up in Illinois. "Memories" and "My Mother" particularly remind me of stories my father told me about growing up on a farm in Roseville, Illinois. They hearken back to a simpler time or perhaps a more difficult one: picking down for a featherbed, gathering eggs, feeding chickens in addition to a myriad of other daily chores. Through the poems, we learn of strong character traits inherent in her family; an example of the strength required to raise seven children. For several years, Ms. Willoughby worked as a labor and delivery nurse, giving her a great insight into health care issues (and what could be more timely) whether it was delivering babies or considering an ailing relative in a nursing home. She honors colleagues-both doctors and nurses-and shares definite opinions on those that have a poor bedside manner. Assisting in all those deliveries, her writings acknowledge the trauma of a stillborn birth, the agony of carrying a baby to term and giving him up for adoption and the difficulty of a pre-mature birth. The