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Carol Lem

Published Books of Poems

The Hermit is a collection of poems which reflects upon personal relationships with friends and parents, death and forgiveness, and the renewing process of love. The title comes from the Tarot figure, whose character symbolizes the solitary stage in life, which the poet needed to comprehend an influx of intense experiences.

The Hermit's Journey: Tarot Poems for Meditation is a gathering of twenty-two poems, each in the voice of the twenty-two Tarot cards - from The Fool to The World - of the Major Arcana. The journey through the poems is a journey through the self, as each archetype represents the human condition at different stages of life.

Moe: Remembrance chronicles the poet's life with her beloved cat, from birth to death. In three sections, this chapbook of poems recalls the joyful moments as well as the painful, and ends with a tribute, "My Teacher," reminding us of how much we learn from our feline companions.

Don't Ask Why explores the mystery of experience in which it is better not to ask why things happen. It is enough that the recording of daily events brings about epiphany, as one title suggests. The poems evoke various scenes - from views looking out an apartment window, to a carnival day in Barcelona, to sitting at the kitchen table, as mother and daughter finally come to see their life in one another.

Shadow of the Plum is a collection of poems which reflects the evolving identity of an Asian American woman. Her relationships with family and culture, lovers, teaching, and writing have contributed to the sweet and sour smells which have followed her from her father's Chinese restaurant in Little Tokyo to the classrooms of East Los Angeles College where she teaches predominately Latino students. These poems of journey confront the complexities of bi-cultural identity and the healing process of writing poetry. Shadow of the Plum is a book of memory and resolution.