| |
|
|
from the issue of October 4, 2007
|
| |
|
|
| |
American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
Sometimes beginning writers tell me they get discouraged because it seems that everything has already been written about. But every experience, however commonplace, is unique to he or she who seizes it. There have undoubtedly been many poems about how dandelions pass from yellow to wind-borne gossamer, but this one by the Maryland poet, Jean Nordhaus, offers an experience that was unique to her and is a gift to us.
A Dandelion for My Mother
How I loved those spiky suns,
rooted stubborn as childhood
in the grass, tough as the farmer's
big-headed children - the mats
of yellow hair, the bowl-cut fringe.
How sturdy they were and how
slowly they turned themselves
into galaxies, domes of ghost stars
barely visible by day, pale
cerebrums clinging to life
on tough green stems. Like you.
Like you, in the end. If you were here,
I'd pluck this trembling globe to show
how beautiful a thing can be
a breath will tear away.
Poem copyright (c) 2006 by Jean Nordhaus. Reprinted from "Innocence," by Jean Nordhaus, published by Ohio State University Press, 2006, with permission of the publisher. Introduction copyright (c) 2007 by The Poetry Foundation. This column is made possible by the Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org) and supported by the UNL Department of English. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.
GO TO: ISSUE OF OCTOBER 4
ARTS HEADLINES FOR OCTOBER 4
'Love Terrors' exhibition opens Oct. 8
Alloy Orchestra to play silent movie scores Oct. 10-11 at the Ross
American Life in Poetry
At Work on campus
Book fair open until Oct. 5
Bracewell to open Lied's Club/Carson season
'Chinese Treasures' on display at the Lentz Center
EAST CAMPUS WEAVE
Film score seminar is Oct. 11
Gay activist to perform at the Lied
Hidustani concert is Oct. 7
Kaul to offer glimpse at past and present Nebraska flora
Miller to give LGBTQA History Month talk
Oct. 6 panel to discuss working as an artist
Sheldon hosts second 'College Night' event Oct. 9
732953S37399X
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|