Marianne Murphy Zarzana
  • Home
  • Writing in This Moment: Blog
  • Poets & Writers I Read
  • Poem Gallery

Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry

2/15/2011

0 Comments

 
Every Saturday morning I read Ted Kooser's poetry column, American Life in Poetry, in our local newspaper, the Marshall Independent. According to their website,  "American Life in Poetry provides newspapers and online publications with a free weekly column featuring contemporary American poems. The sole mission of this project is to promote poetry: American Life in Poetry seeks to create a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture." 

Ted Kooser initiated this weekly column when he served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2004-2006, and he has kept it going ever since. It is available free to online websites and blog if you register on their website, so I'll be posting it from time to time. This week's column features Connie Wanek, one of Kooser's favorite poems, and one of mine too.

American Life in Poetry: Column 308 
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006 

Connie Wanek is one of my favorite poets.  She lives in Duluth and has a keen eye for what goes on around her.  Here’s a locked and loaded scene from rural America. 


Mysterious Neighbors 
Country people rise early 
as their distant lights testify. 
They don’t hold water in common. Each house 
has a personal source, like a bank account, 
a stone vault. Some share eggs, 
some share expertise, 
and some won’t even wave. 
A walk for the mail elevates the heart rate. 
Last November I saw a woman down the road 
walk out to her mailbox dressed in blaze orange 
cap to boot, a cautious soul. 
Bullets can’t read her No Trespassing sign. 
Strange to think they’re in the air 
like lead bees with a fatal sting. 
Our neighbor across the road sits in his kitchen 
with his rifle handy and the window open. 
You never know when. Once 
he shot a trophy with his barrel resting on the sill. 
He’s in his seventies, born here, joined the Navy, 
came back. Hard work never hurt a man 
until suddenly he was another broken tool. 
His silhouette against the dawn 
droops as though drought-stricken, each step 
deliberate, down the driveway to his black mailbox, 
prying it open. Checking a trap. 

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), 
publisher of Poetry magazine.  It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of 
Nebraska, Lincoln.  Poem copyright ©2010 by Connie Wanek whose most recent book of poetry is “On 
Speaking Terms,” Copper Canyon Press, 2010.  Reprinted from New Ohio Review, No. 7, Spring 2010, by 
permission of Connie Wanek and the publisher.  Introduction copyright © 2011 by The Poetry Foundation.  
The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the 
Library of Congress from 2004-2006.  
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Author

    I love to play with words. To capture moments on the page. To explore the physical and spiritual geography of what I call "fly-over country." I write from imagination, observation and my own experience of wandering in fly-over country--the literal, physical spaces of my life on the Minnesota prairie and the inner territory of the soul. 

    I teach writing at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota. I enjoy cooking and traveling with my husband Jim, reading, practicing yoga, playing tennis, biking, hiking and gardening.

    Archives

    December 2019
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    October 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    Blogroll
    Arts Beat
    A Year of Being Here
    Bearded Vegan
    Becky's Blog
    Better World Books
    Birth Breasts and Beyond
    Carrie Etter
    Christine Stewart-Nunez
    Dana Yost
    Heroic Yes! Productions
    James A. Zarzana
    Landing on Cloudy Water
    Nicole Helget
    No Ideas But in Things
    Story Guru
    The Marsco Saga
    Write Right

    Categories

    All
    African American Writers
    African-American Writers
    American Life In Poetry
    Awp
    Dance
    Family
    Favorite Poems
    Favorite Writing Blogs
    Global Studies
    Good Articles
    Good Articles About Writing
    Good Blogs
    Good Books
    Good Essays
    Good Movies
    Good Plays
    Good Poems
    Good Quotes
    Good Video Clips
    Guerilla Art
    International News
    International Writers
    Irish Writers
    James A. Zarzana
    Libraries
    Literary Awards
    Literary Journals
    Mankato
    Memoir
    Mindfulness
    Minneapolis
    Minnesota Public Radio
    Minnesota State University-Mankato
    Mnsu
    Msu
    National Public Radio
    Nd
    Notre Dame
    Poetry Foundation
    Public Art Projects
    Publishing Resources
    Readings
    Shameless Plug
    Shameless Plugs
    Smsu
    Storytelling
    Ted Kooser
    Websites
    Writer
    Writer's Almanac
    Writers I Read
    Writing About Family
    Writing About Food
    Writing About Music
    Writing About Words
    Writing And Community
    Writing And Faith
    Writing And Politics
    Writing And Romance
    Writing And Sexuality
    Writing And Sports
    Writing And Teaching
    Writing And Technology
    Writing Contest
    Writing Groups
    Writing Prompts
    Writing Workshops
    Yoga
    Young Readers
    Young Writers

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.