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from the issue of December 13, 2007
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
Life becomes more complicated every day, and each of us can control only so much of what happens. As for the rest? Poet Thomas R. Smith of Wisconsin offers some practical advice.
Trust
It's like so many other things in life
to which you must say no or yes.
So you take your car to the new
mechanic.
Sometimes the best thing to do is trust.
The package left with the
disreputable-looking
clerk, the check gulped by the night
deposit,
the envelope passed by dozens
of strangers -
all show up at their intended
destinations.
The theft that could have
happened doesn't.
Wind finally gets where it was going
through the snowy trees, and the river,
even
when frozen, arrives at the right place.
And sometimes you sense how
faithfully your life
is delivered, even though you can't read
the address.
Poem copyright (c) 2003 by Thomas R. Smith. Reprinted from "Waking before Dawn," Thomas R. Smith, Red Dragonfly Press, 2007, by permission of the author. 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 DECEMBER 13
ARTS HEADLINES FOR DECEMBER 13
Winter ceramics sale Dec. 14-15
American Life in Poetry
'Christmas Carol' returns with a twist
'Deadwood' series examined by Great Plains Quarterly
Free screening of 'Heima' is Dec. 13
Great Plains Art Museum hosts 'Last Year on the Farm' exhibit
PianoFOURte to perform Dec. 18
'Playground' shows Dec. 14 at the Ross
Ross to show Metropolitan Opera live in HD Dec. 15
Vintage action adventure posters from Cinema 16 collection featured
'Winter Wonderland' exhibit opens Dec. 21
733023S37716X
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