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from the issue of March 6, 2008
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
A child with a sense of the dramatic, well, many of us have been that child. Here's Carrie Shipers of Missouri reminiscing about how she once wished for a dramatic rescue by screaming ambulance, only to find she was really longing for the comfort of her mother's hands.
Medical History
I wanted it: arc of red and blue
strobing my skin, sirens singing
my praises, the cinching embrace
of the cot as the ambulance
slammed shut and steered away.
More than needle-pierce
or dragging blade, I wanted the swab
of alcohol and cotton, the promise
of gauze-covered cure.
My mother saved anyone
who asked, but never me,
never the way I wanted:
her palms skimming my limbs
for injury, her fingers finding
what hurt, her lips whispering,
I got here just in time.
Poem copyright (c) 2007 by Carrie Shipers. Reprinted from "Mid-American Review," Vol. 27, no. 2, 2007, by permission of the author. Introduction copyright (c) 2008 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 MARCH 6
ARTS HEADLINES FOR MARCH 6
RETURNING GRADUATE
American Life in Poetry
'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' cons its way into Lied Center
GRADUATE DISCUSSION
'Honeydripper' opens March 7 at the Ross
Lied Center hosts March 15 performance of St. Matthew's Passion
Sandhill crane special airs March 9
Sheldon hosts poetry contest on March 8
Symphonic Band to perform March 9
733107S38011X
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