For more than 40 years, Jay Rothman has been writing poetry about the questions that have followed him through his life: Why are we here? What are we meant to learn? How do we find love, purpose, and connection? And what can our struggles teach us about who we are becoming?

Soulful Poetry brings together poems written across those four decades, tracing Jay’s lifelong search for meaning through personal experience and Jewish thought. His poems explore love and loneliness, friendship and loss, hope and disappointment, spiritual growth, and the difficult work of becoming the person each of us was created to be.

Throughout the collection, Jay returns to images from the natural world: light and darkness, the Sun, water, flowers, diamonds, candles, and changing seasons. A diamond waiting beneath the surface becomes a reflection on recognizing our own worth. A stone dropped into water illustrates how our words and actions ripple outward into the lives of others. A candle becomes a meditation on life, the body, and the Soul.

Jay’s Jewish faith and spiritual beliefs are woven throughout the book, alongside deeply personal reflections on love, loneliness, friendship, loss, hope, mistakes, and personal growth.

The result is not simply a collection of poetry, but a record of one man’s lifelong spiritual search. At times hopeful, at times painful, and often intensely personal, these pieces invite readers to consider their own lives, relationships, struggles, and place in the Universe.

Soulful Poetry is a book to read slowly, returning to individual pieces when you need encouragement, reflection, or simply a reminder to keep reaching toward the Light.

Glenn Schadt

Voice