search articles:     from the issue of February 1, 2007         American Life in Poetry  BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006 Grief can endure a long, long time. A deep loss is very reluctant to let us set it aside, to push it into a corner of memory. Here the Arkansas poet, Andrea Hollander Budy, gives us a look at one family's adjustment to a death. For Weeks After the Funeral The house felt like the opera, the audience in their seats, hushed, ready, but the cast not yet arrived. And if I said anything to try to appease the anxious air, my words would hang alone like the single chandelier waiting to dim the auditorium, but still too huge, too prominent, too bright, its light announcing only itself, bringing more emptiness into the emptiness. Copyright (c) 2006 by Andrea Hollander Budy. First published in "Five Points" and included in her book, "Woman in the Painting." Reprinted by permission of the author and Autumn House Press. 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 FEBRUARY 1 ARTS HEADLINES FOR FEBRUARY 1 Theatrix to premiere 'Date Auction' Feb. 8 American Life in Poetry Bender exhibit opens Feb. 5 Crosmer wins 'Play with the Chiaras' competition Global coffee trade explored at the Ross Grad student on Emeril Live Feb. 11 Hungarian State Folk troupe to perform Feb. 7 Lied accepting entries for Free at 6 performers Lincoln Symphony plays Kimball Hall Feb. 2 'The Producers' to play three days at the Lied 732708S36689X