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from the issue of July 17, 2008
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
I remember being scared to death when, at about 30 years of age, I saw an X-ray of my skull. Seeing one's self as a skeleton, or receiving any kind of medical report, even when the news is good, can be unsettling. Suddenly, you're just another body, a clock waiting to stop. Here's a telling poem by Rick Campbell, who lives and teaches in Florida.
Heart
My heart was suspect.
Wired to an EKG,
I walked a treadmill
that measured my ebb
and flow, tracked isotopes
that ploughed my veins,
looked for a constancy
I've hardly ever found.
For a month I worried
as I climbed the stairs
to my office. The mortality
I never believed in
was here now. They
say my heart's ok,
just high cholesterol, but
I know my heart's a house
someone has broken into,
a room you come back
to and know some stranger
with bad intent has been there
and touched all that you love. You know
he can come back. It's his call,
his house now.
Poem copyright (c) 2006 by Rick Campbell and reprinted from "Dixmont," Autumn House Press, 2008, by permission of the writer. First published in "The Florida Review," Fall, 2006. 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 JULY 17
ARTS HEADLINES FOR JULY 17
"The Sizes of Things in the Mind
American Life in Poetry
Eisentrager•Howard features quilt exhibit
FAMILY ART NIGHT
Great Plains museum hosts Dwight Kirsch exhibition
'Mongol,' 'Jellyfish' to show at the Ross
'Movies on the Green' features 1960s theme
Rep opens new season with 3 plays
Sheldon renovation opts for energy-efficient exterior lights
Students aid NET's 'Arts in Nebraska' available online
733240S38327X
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