Creativity has no age requirements and flows freely from young and old alike. This inspiring collection of poems was written by elderly residents of assisted living communities in California. Nader R. Shabahangi, the founder of AgeSong and AgeSong Institute, serves as editor of this anthology. He offers Gems of Wisdom as a demonstration that "life is a continual process of learning, growing and developing until our end."

The wisdom expressed in these 89 poems testifies to older people's multidimensional search for meaning in their lives. Here are some of the themes of this stage of life and a poem that illustrates it:

• Delight - "A Brass Ring for Catching" by Barbara Davis
• Wonder - "Looking at a Leaf" by Claire Rothenberg
• Legacy - "Someone Tell the Children" by Debra Durnell
• The Ties That Bind - "All I Know of Love" by Helen Crowner
• Learning - "How to Nurture a Joyful Heart" by Laurel Zien