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from the issue of May 1, 2008
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
From your school days you may remember A.E. Housman's poem that begins, "Loveliest of trees, the cherry now/ Is hung with bloom along the bough." Here's a look at a blossoming cherry, done 120 years later, on site among the famous cherry trees of Washington, by D.C. poet Judith Harris.
In Your Absence
Not yet summer,
but unseasonable heat
pries open the cherry tree.
It stands there stupefied,
in its sham, pink frills,
dense with early blooming.
Then, as afternoon cools
into more furtive winds,
I look up to see
a blizzard of petals
rushing the sky.
It is only April.
I can't stop my own life
from hurrying by.
The moon, already pacing.
Poem copyright (c) 2007 by Judith Harris, whose most recent collection of poems is "The Bad Secret," Louisiana State University Press, 2006. Reprinted by permission of Judith Harris. 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 MAY 1
ARTS HEADLINES FOR MAY 1
Veneciano to take Sheldon helm July 1
American Life in Poetry
Annual ceramics sale is May 2-3
May 8 'Free at 6' performance features Athenian Dancers
'Particles to Planets' exhibit opens May 2
Piano prof, mezzo-soprano offer May 3 performance
Ross 'passport' tour opens May 9
Theatre and Film celebration is May 3
University Bookstore hosts May 9 signing
733163S38228X
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