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from the issue of April 14, 2005
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE
EDITOR'S NOTE - This is the first publication of a new weekly column started by U.S. Poet Laureate and UNL visiting professor Ted Kooser, and supported by the Poetry Foundation and the Library of Congress. "American Life in Poetry" is aimed at promoting poetry and will feature a work by a contemporary U.S. poet and an introduction by Kooser.
We all know that the manner in which people behave toward one another can tell us a lot about their private lives. In this amusing poem by David Allan Evans, Poet Laureate of South Dakota, we learn something about a marriage by being shown a couple as they take on an ordinary household task.
Neighbors
They live alone
together,
she with her wide hind
and bird face,
he with his hung belly
and crewcut.
They never talk
but keep busy.
Today they are
washing windows
(each window together)
she on the inside,
he on the outside.
He squirts Windex
at her face,
she squirts Windex
at his face.
Now they are waving
to each other
with rags,
not smiling.
Reprinted from "Train Windows," Ohio University Press, 1976, by permission of the author, whose most recent book is "The Bull Rider's Advice: New and Selected Poems." This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at UNL.
GO TO: ISSUE OF APRIL 14
ARTS HEADLINES FOR APRIL 14
Hillestad Gallery show features repeated patterns
American Life in Poetry
Art auction April 29
732050S34551X
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