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from the issue of September 29, 2005
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE
Descriptive poetry depends for its effects in part upon the vividness of details. Here the Virginia poet, Claudia Emerson, describes the type of old building all of us have seen but may not have stopped to look at carefully. And thoughtfully.
Stable
One rusty horseshoe hangs on a nail
above the door, still losing its luck,
and a work-collar swings, an empty
old noose. The silence waits, wild to be
broken by hoofbeat and heavy
harness slap, will founder but remain;
while, outside, above the stable,
eight, nine, now ten buzzards swing low
in lazy loops, a loose black warp
of patience, bearing the blank sky
like a pall of wind on mourning
wings. But the bones of this place are
long picked clean. Only the hayrake's
ribs still rise from the rampant grasses.
Poem copyright (c) 1997 by Claudia Emerson Andrews, a 2005 Witter Bynner Fellow of the Library of Congress. Reprinted from "Pharoah, Pharoah" (1997) by permission of the author, whose newest book, "Late Wife," will appear this fall; both collections are published by Louisiana State University's Southern Messenger Poets. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the UNL Department of English. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.
GO TO: ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 29
ARTS HEADLINES FOR SEPTEMBER 29
University Theatre opens with quirky comedy
American Chamber concert Oct. 13
American Life in Poetry
Ballet Flamenco comes to Lied Oct. 7
French films featured at Mary Riepma Ross
'Let's Talk Art' series featured at Sheldon
Neal shows at Haymarket gallery
OLLI program to host evening with Kooser
Variety of performance art disciplines featured in 'Shall We Dance?'
732218S35035X
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