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from the issue of July 20, 2006
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
One in a series of elegies by New York City poet Catherine Barnett, this poem describes the first gathering after death has shaken a family to its core. The father tries to help his grown daughter forget for a moment that, a year earlier, her own two daughters were killed, that she is now alone. He's heartsick, realizing that drinking can only momentarily ease her pain, a pain and love that takes hold of the entire family. The children who join her in the field are silent guardians.
Family Reunion
My father scolded us all for refusing his
liquor.
He kept buying tequila, and steak for
the grill,
until finally we joined him, making
margaritas,
cutting the fat off the bone.
When he saw how we drank, my sister
shredding the black labels into her glass
while his remaining grandchildren
dragged their thin bunk bed mattresses
first out to the lawn to play
then farther up the field to sleep next
to her,
I think it was then he changed,
something in him died. He's gentler
now,
quiet, losing weight though every night
he eats the same ice cream he
always ate
only now he's not drinking,
he doesn't fall asleep with the spoon
in his hand,
he waits for my mother to come
lie down with him.
Reprinted from "Into Perfect Spheres Such Holes Are Pierced," Alice James Books, 2004, by permission of the author. Copyright (c) 2004 by Catherine Barnett. 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 JULY 20
ARTS HEADLINES FOR JULY 20
Great Plains exhibition features Nebraska barns
American Life in Poetry
Drama classes offered to youth
Kruger to hang miniature paintings
Movies on the Green show July 20
'Omnium Gatherum' continues Repertory season
Puelz show open through July 30
Ross showcases world of crossword puzzle fans fanatics
Sheldon lithographs present look at alumnus' art career
732512S35982X
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