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from the issue of April 21, 2005
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE
EDITOR'S NOTE - This is a 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.
Many of us have felt helpless when we've tried to assist friends who are dealing with the deaths of loved ones.
Here the Kentucky poet and publisher, Jonathan Greene, conveys that feeling of inadequacy in a single sentence. The brevity of the poem reflects the measured and halting speech of people attempting to offer words of condolence:
AT THE GRAVE
As Death often
sidelines us
it is good
to contribute
even if so little
as to shovel
some earth
into earth.
Copyright 2003 by Jonathan Greene. Reprinted by permission of the author. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress and the UNL Department of English.
GO TO: ISSUE OF APRIL 21
ARTS HEADLINES FOR APRIL 21
Great Plains Museum hosts Plains Song Review reading today
American Life in Poetry
'Born Into Brothels,' 'Head-On' at Ross
Libraries acquire Kees, Helm sheet music collection
Theatrix produces 'The Illusion'
732057S34586X
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