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from the issue of October 26, 2006
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
Readers of this column during the past year have by now learned how enthusiastic I am about poems describing everyday life. I've tried to show how the ordinary can be made extraordinary through close and transforming observation. Here Tess Gallagher goes to the mailbox to post a letter. We've all done that, haven't we? But notice how closely she pays attention to this simple experience, and how she fits this one moment into the meaning of her life.
Under Stars
The sleep of this night deepens
because I have walked coatless from
the house
carrying the white envelope.
All night it will say one name
in its little tin house by the roadside.
I have raised the metal flag
so its shadow under the roadlamp
leaves an imprint on the rain-heavy
bushes.
Now I will walk back
thinking of the few lights still on
in the town a mile away.
In the yellowed light of a kitchen
the millworker has finished his coffee,
his wife has laid out the white slices
of bread
on the counter. Now while the bed
they have left
is still warm, I will think of you, you
who are so far away
you have caused me to look up
at the stars.
Tonight they have not moved
from childhood, those games played
after dark.
Again I walk into the wet grass
toward the starry voices. Again, I
am the found one, intimate, returned
by all I touch on the way.
"Under Stars" copyright (c) 1987 by Tess Gallagher. Reprinted from "Amplitude: New & Selected Poems" with the permission of Graywolf Press, Saint Paul, Minnesota. Gallagher's most recent book of poetry is "Dear Ghosts: Poems," Graywolf Press, 2006. 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 OCTOBER 26
ARTS HEADLINES FOR OCTOBER 26
University Theatre premieres 'Broadcast' on Oct. 26
American Life in Poetry
AWARD WINNER
Director, film historian offers Nov. 3 lecture at Lied Center
Geske profiled in documentary at the Ross
GOING UP
Guest artist offers Nov. 2 printmaking lecture
Hagel biography discussion is Oct. 26
'Room with a View' displayed through Oct. 27
Student Jazz emsemble to release first CD, 'Minimal Effort'
732610S36366X
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