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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: KOOSER, TED Matches Found: 383 Kooser, Ted Poet's Biography 383 poems available by this author A BIRTHDAY CARD Poem Text First Line: In her eighties now, and weak and ill Subject(s): Aunts; Sickness; Birthdays; Illness A BLIND WOMAN Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: She had turned her face up into Subject(s): Blindness; Visually Handicapped A BUFFALO SKULL Poem Text First Line: No fine white bone-sheen now Subject(s): Skulls A CHILD'S GRAVE MARKER Poem Text First Line: A small block of granite Subject(s): Graves; Tombs; Tombstones A DEATH AT THE OFFICE Poem Text First Line: The news goes desk to desk Subject(s): Death; Office Employees; Dead, The; Clerks A DRIVE IN THE COUNTRY Poem Text First Line: In the ditch by the dirt back road Subject(s): Country Life; Automobile Drivers A FENCECROW IN EARLY MARCH Poem Text First Line: The last snowdrifts Subject(s): Winter; Farm Life; Fences; Agriculture; Farmers A GHOST STORY Poem Text First Line: Her life was plain, her death Subject(s): Death - Children; Roses; Death - Babies A GLIMPSE OF THE ETERNAL Poem Text First Line: Just now, / a sparrow lighted Subject(s): Sparrows A HAPPY BIRTHDAY Poem Text First Line: This evening, I sat by an open window Subject(s): Birthdays A LETTER IN OCTOBER Poem Text First Line: Dawn comes later and later now Subject(s): Autumn; Time; Fall A PLACE IN KANSAS Poem Text First Line: Somewhere in kansas, a friend found Subject(s): Farm Life; Agriculture; Farmers A ROOM IN THE PAST Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: It's a kitchen. Its curtains fill Subject(s): Family Life; Relatives A SPIRAL NOTEBOOK Poem Text First Line: The bright wire rolls like a porpoise Subject(s): Notebooks ABANDONED FARMHOUSE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: He was a big man, says the size of his shoes Subject(s): Houses, Deserted ABANDONED FARMHOUSE First Line: He was a big man, says the size of his shoes Last Line: A rusty tractor with a broken plow, %a doll in overalls. Something went wrong, they say ABANDONED STONE SCHOOLHOUSE IN THE NEBRASKA SANDHILLS First Line: These square stone walls are of sand, too Last Line: As it eases along through the sand, %rubbing away at our names and our voices ACCORDING TO WEATHER REPORTS ACROSS THE POND First Line: The dead tree stands out in front AFTER BURNING OFF THE GARDEN FOR SPRING First Line: This morning, the garden's black hair Last Line: Of roots, its black leather jacket %studded with nuggets of ice AFTER THE POETRY READING First Line: Young men fold up and carry Last Line: Is nearby, and the little hens jostle together AFTER YEARS Poem Text First Line: Today, from a distance, I saw you Subject(s): Absence; Separation; Isolation AFTER YEARS First Line: Today, from a distance, I saw you Last Line: Of my heart with no one to tell AFTERLIFE First Line: It will be february there Last Line: Then, behind us, trombones: %the horns of the tugs %turning our great gray ship %back into the mist AN EMPTY PLACE Poem Text First Line: There is nothing for death Subject(s): Houses, Deserted AN EPIPHANY Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: I have seen the brown recluse spider Subject(s): Spiders ANOTHER STORY First Line: In a country churchyard, two workman Last Line: At intervals each touched the empty bell APPLESAUCE First Line: I likeed how the starry blue lid %of that saucepan lifted and puffed Last Line: The only boats under sail %for at least two thousand miles AS THE NEWS OF THE STORM GOT OUT AS THE PRESIDENT SPOKE AT MIDNIGHT Poem Text First Line: Somewhere in the night Last Line: About his shoulders Subject(s): Thought; Old Age; Sunrise; Mallards; Drakes AT MIDNIGHT First Line: Somewhere in the night AT NIGHTFALL First Line: In feathers the color of dusk, a swallow AT THE BAIT STAND First Line: Part barn, part boxcar, part of a chicken shed AT THE CANCER CLINIC Poem Text First Line: She is being helped toward the open door Subject(s): Cancer (disease); Hospitals AT THE CANCER CLINIC First Line: She is being helped toward the open door Last Line: And all the shuffling magazines grow still AT THE CENTER First Line: In kansas, on top AT THE COUNTY MUSEUM First Line: Blacker than black, the lacquered horse-drawn hearse Last Line: Helped to soften the nearness of death AT THE END OF THE WEEKEND First Line: It is sunday afternoon, %and I suddenly miss Last Line: Daring to fall through the distance, %then climbing, full throttle, away AT THE OFFICE EARLY First Line: Rain has beaded the panes %of my office windows Last Line: Of banks righting themselves, %the underpaid tellers %counting thier nickles and dimes AT THE WELCOME CENTER First Line: The rest stop road map, fading a little Last Line: Then bending again. Here I am, here, %reading an arrow from god AUGUST NIGHT First Line: High in the trees, cicadas weave AUNT MILDRED First Line: After she'd cooked and then eaten the meat Last Line: Straightened her spine, and wrote a small %but generous letter to the world AUTO SALVAGE Poem Text First Line: In that muddy junkyard, wrecks were stacked Subject(s): Junk & Junkyards BACK DOOR First Line: The door through which we step out Last Line: Stepping in through the back garden gate, %pausing to pick the few roses BALLAD OF JIM HIATT First Line: Jim hiatt was sort of a quiet man Last Line: Not of jim, but the dummy, you see BANK FISHING FOR BLUEGILLS First Line: A breeze nudges the empty aluminum boat Last Line: And tethered only gently to this world BARN OWL Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: High in the chaffy Subject(s): Owls BARN OWL First Line: High in the chaffy, taffy-colored haze Last Line: The size of a finger ring, to hold you %always, plumpest sweetheart mouse of mine BARN OWL First Line: There is something about an old barn BASEBALL First Line: The batter pushes his way through the light Last Line: It will be days before we hear another BEADED PURSE First Line: Dressed in his church suit, and under Last Line: With his rich and famous daughter BEER BOTTLE Poem Text First Line: In the burned- / out highway Subject(s): Bottles BIKER First Line: Pulling away from a stoplight Last Line: And shrinks out of the way BIRTHDAY CARD First Line: In her eighties now, and weak and ill BIRTHDAY POEM First Line: Just past dawn, the sun stands Last Line: Swinging the little tin bell %of my name BLIND WOMAN First Line: She had turned her face up into Last Line: Through the bars, poking and prodding, %while the world cowered back in a corner BOARDING HOUSE Poem Text First Line: The blind man draws his curtains for the night Subject(s): Hotels; Inns; Innskeepers; Motels; Boarding Houses BOARDING HOUSE First Line: The blind man draws his curtains for the night Last Line: Under the blind man's door, and all is right Subject(s): Hotels BOX OF PASTELS First Line: I once held on my knees a simple wooden box Last Line: And left there with light on the tips of my fingers BUFFALO SKULL First Line: No fine white bone-sheen now Subject(s): Skulls CAMERA Poem Text First Line: It's an old box camera / a brownie, the color and shape Last Line: This little battery without a spark Subject(s): Cameras; Poetry & Poets CAMERA First Line: It's an old box camera %a brownie, the color and shape Last Line: All these have leaked away, %leaving this shell %this little battery without a spark Subject(s): Cameras; Poetry And Poets CAROUSEL GOAT IN THE CIRCUS MUSEUM First Line: No pony who smartly lifts ons hoof CARP First Line: On the river bottom CARRIE Poem Text First Line: There's never an end to dust Subject(s): Dust CARRIE First Line: There's never an end to dust Last Line: There is never an end to it Subject(s): Dust CASTING REELS Poem Text First Line: You find them at flea markets Subject(s): Fish & Fishing; Anglers CASTING REELS First Line: You find them at flea markets Last Line: They are the ones who got away CENTRAL First Line: As fine a piece of furniture %as any steinway, all oak Last Line: Of pink rubber. 'central,' she'd say %to the darkness, 'this is central. %hello? Is there anyone the Subject(s): Poetry And Poets CHILD'S GRAVE MARKER First Line: A small block of granite Subject(s): Graves CHINA PAINTERS First Line: They have set aside their black tin boxes Last Line: And the world had been nothing but flowers CHOCOLATE CHECKERS First Line: In a tiny green park, chopped out Last Line: On an imported italian marble table %with neatly set black-and-white tiles CHRISTMAS MAIL Poem Text First Line: Cards in each mailbox Subject(s): Christmas Cards CITY BUS First Line: This one has been painted to look like Last Line: Of a woman who falls to one knee CITY LIMITS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Here on the west edge, the town turned its back on the west Subject(s): Railroads; Travel; West (u.s.); Railways; Trains; Journeys; Trips; Southwest; Pacific States CITY LIMITS First Line: Here on the west edge, the town turned its back on the west Last Line: A switch with red eyes wipes its mouth with a sleeve Subject(s): Railroads; Travel; West (u.s.) CLEANING A BASS First Line: She put it on the chopping block CORN WAS AT TWELVE CENTS A BUSHEL COSMETICS DEPARTMENT First Line: A fragrance heavy as dust, and two young women Last Line: And the warm wine brimming COURTHOUSE LEDGER First Line: These ink strokes, like wisps of brown hair Last Line: By the heels of a thousand hands CREAMED CORN First Line: The jamaicans who came to can corn Last Line: Our ignorance spoils the creamed corn DADDY LONGLEGS Poem Text First Line: Here, on fine long legs springy as steel Subject(s): Spiders DADDY LONGLEGS First Line: Here, on fine long legs springy as steel DEATH AT THE OFFICE First Line: The news goes desk to desk Last Line: The scribbles from her calendar Subject(s): Death; Office Employees DECEMBER .30 Poem Text First Line: Two degrees and clear Last Line: Their leafy, breezy dreams of home Subject(s): Two Degrees And Clea DECK OF PORNOGRAPHIC PLAYING CARDS First Line: We were ten or eleven, my friend and I Last Line: But we were already dying inside DECORATION DAY First Line: It takes the hard work DEPENDING WHERE ON THE PLAINS DEPRESSION GLASS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: It seemed those rose-pink dishes Subject(s): Dishes DEPRESSION GLASS First Line: It seemed those rose-pink dishes Last Line: For each five pounds of flour DIFFICULT QUESTIONS First Line: Deep cold that night, and at the window Last Line: That he had been filling with time DISHWATER Poem Text First Line: Slap of the screen door, flat knock Subject(s): Grandparents; Farm Life; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers; Agriculture; Farmers DISHWATER First Line: Slap of the screen door, flat knock Last Line: With an empty dishpan swinging at one end DITCH-BURNING IN FEBRUARY First Line: Driving, I came to a mile of fire Last Line: I watched him go east in the mirror, %and he watched me go west and away EARLY BIRD First Line: Still dark, and raining hard %on a cold may morning Last Line: And letting us drink EARLY IN THE EVENING EASTERN MEADOWLARK First Line: There are days when wherever you look EIGHTEEN EIGHTY-EIGHT, A THURSDAY ELEGY First Line: In summer, after the spring floods Last Line: Across the water, long-legged and light %as a breath EMPTY SHOTGUN SHELL First Line: It's a handsome thing EPIPHANY First Line: I have seen the brown recluse spider Last Line: She might idly have twisted, speaker to me, %and the legs of the beetle were broken ETUDE Poem Text First Line: I have been watching a great blue heron Subject(s): Herons ETUDE First Line: I have been watching a great blue heron Last Line: He would spear the whole world if he could, %toss it and swallow it live FAN IN THE WINDOW First Line: It is september, and a cool breeze FATHER Poem Text First Line: You spent fifty-five years Subject(s): Fathers; Retail Trade; Stores; Shops; Shopkeepers FATHER First Line: You spent fifty-five years Last Line: We laughed till we cried Subject(s): Fathers; Retail Trade FATHER First Line: Today you would be ninety-seven Last Line: All over iowa, still welcoming you FATHER AND I HAD PULLED THE PUMP UP FATHER HAD PLOWED A FIRE-GUARD FATHER TURNED OVER THE WAGON FATHER WAS ILL WITH THE MUMPS FENCEROW IN EARLY MARCH First Line: The last snowdrifts FINDING First Line: One of my dogs has brought the foreleg of a deer Last Line: And three of us can hear that wire still thrumming FIREFLIES First Line: The cricket's pocket knife is bent Last Line: Its planking of breeze, and on it %a women stands snapping the shade %of a lantern, signaling someon FIRST SNOW Poem Text First Line: The old black dog comes in one evening Subject(s): Snow; Dogs; Country Life FIRST THING WE NOTICED THAT DAY FIVE FINGER EXERCISE First Line: All day at home, alone in the winter half-light Last Line: And it frightened them, and off they flew together FLEA MARKET First Line: That's the sun over there Last Line: Blow out rings of stars FLOW BLUE CHINA First Line: No real flowers would give of themselves Last Line: I lift this cup to her. Flow, blue FLYING AT NIGHT Poem Text First Line: Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations Subject(s): Air Travel FLYING AT NIGHT First Line: Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations Last Line: All night, the cities, like shimmering novas, %tug with bright streets at lonely lights like this Subject(s): Air Travel FOR A FRIEND First Line: Late november, driving to wichita FOR JEFF First Line: On the morning of your wedding Last Line: Then shuddered and lifted itself, %and shook off its own surprise FOR YOU, FRIEND Poem Text First Line: This valentine's day, I intend to stand Subject(s): Time FORT ROBINSON Poem Text First Line: When I visited fort robinson Subject(s): Nature FORT ROBINSON First Line: When I visited fort robinson Last Line: The cheyenne climbed that winter, fleeing Subject(s): Nature FOUR CIVIL WAR PAINTINGS BY WINSLOW HOMER First Line: Sharpshooter' a union sniper in a tree Subject(s): Homer, Winslow (1836-1910) FOUR SECRETARIES First Line: All through the day I hear or overhear Last Line: Is hurt, and they hear her calling %and gather about her to cry GARAGE SALE First Line: All of your husband's shirts and slacks Last Line: I walk so empty-handed to my car GENUINE POEM, FOUNDED ... STORY CITY IOWA First Line: If you strike Subject(s): Sports GERONIMO'S MIRROR First Line: That flash from a distant hillside GHOST STORY First Line: Her life was plain, her death Last Line: Seventy years her grave %gave off the scent of roses GIANT SLIDE First Line: Beside the highway, the giant slide GILBERT STUART PORTRAIT OF WASHINGTON First Line: You know it as well as the back of your hand Last Line: Before us always, he who could never tell a lie %kept his jaws closed on the truth GLIMPSE OF THE ETERNAL First Line: Just now, %a sparrow lighted Last Line: Of yellow pollen %flew away GOLDFISH FLOATS TO THE TOP OF HIS LIFE Last Line: They all would prefer to have died in their sleep Subject(s): Business; Death GOOD-BYE First Line: You lean with one arm out GOOD-BYE HANDSHAKE First Line: Though you and the nursing home Last Line: Which has held nearly everything once %and has squeezed it shyly and politely GRASSHOPPERS Poem Text First Line: This year they are exactly the size Subject(s): Grasshoppers GRASSHOPPERS First Line: This year they are exactly the size Last Line: Slapping the grass like drops of rain GREAT GRANDPARENTS First Line: As small children, we were taken to meet them Last Line: Their shirt cuffs yellow, smoky old wood stoves %smoldering somewhere under their clothes GREAT PLAINS IN WINTER Poem Text Recitation by Author Subject(s): Great Plains (united States); Winter GRIM REAPER First Line: That was just a good story, that business Last Line: So that all of your heat leaks out, %and the pipes freeze GYROSCOPE First Line: I place this within the first order Last Line: To balance so lightly in our hands HANDS IN THE WIND First Line: Today I drove through a cloud of leaves, Last Line: They'd thought I was somebody else. HAPPY BIRTHDAY First Line: This evening, I sat by an open window Last Line: With the pale gray ghost of my hand HATCH OF FLIES First Line: There are more than a hundred Last Line: Under the male, the male astounded, %touching his eyes with his tiny hands HEART OF GOLD First Line: It's an old beer bottle Last Line: Now, from the wet formica tabletop, %it lifts its sweet old mouth to yours HEART PATIENT First Line: He lowers his voice when he mentions it HIGHWAY 30 Poem Text First Line: At two in the morning, when the moon Subject(s): Roads; Paths; Trails HOBO JUNGLE First Line: A fat brown car seat, mushy with rain HOME MEDICAL DICTIONARY First Line: This is not so much a dictionary Last Line: Is finally channeled and dammed HOME STORAGE BARNS First Line: They're easy to see from the freeway Last Line: (with an x of white boards on the door %as if marking a spot for the heart HORSE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: In its stall stands the 19th century Subject(s): Horses HORSE First Line: In its stall stands the 19th century Last Line: Of a hard, dirty army of hooves HORTICULTURE Poem Text First Line: One of my mother's moser uncles Last Line: Being invited to their house to tasted a little slice of miracle Subject(s): Horticulture; Iowa HORTICULTURE First Line: One of my mother's moser uncles Last Line: To taste a little slice of miracle Subject(s): Horticulture; Iowa HOW THE GOOD LORD, IN HIS HOW TO FORETELL A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Rain always follows the cattle Subject(s): Weather HOW TO MAKE RHUBARB WINE Poem Text First Line: Go to the patch some afternoon / in early summer, fuzzy with beer Subject(s): Farm Life; Agriculture; Farmers HOW TO MAKE RHUBARB WINE First Line: Go to the patch some afternoon %in early summer, fuzzy with beer Last Line: Bottled and ready for the years, %and smile. You've done it awfully well Subject(s): Farm Life I DIDN'T LIKE OUR TEACHER I DON'T REMEMBER THE NAME I HAD BEEN TO THE SCHOOLHOUSE I REMEMBER HOW IN THAT WIND I SPENT THAT NIGHT IN A SHED I WAS AN OHIO GIRL I WAS EMBARRASSED ALL RIGHT I WAS TEACHING IN KANSAS ICE CAVE First Line: That hill's hard core of yellow stone held steady at 43 degrees Last Line: They'd walk downhill, stiff-legged from sitting, hungry for supper IN A COUNTRY CEMETERY IN IOWA FOR JAMES HEARST First Line: Someone's been up here nights Last Line: Just passing through, you'd say %it looks like foolishness IN A KITCHEN GARDEN First Line: The seasons have learned to do lovely things Last Line: The cabbage leaves for evelyn penfield, %can make a kind of music there IN ALL MY YEARS I NEVER SAW IN AN OLD APPLE ORCHARD Poem Text First Line: The wind's an old man Subject(s): Farm Life; Agriculture; Farmers IN AN OLD APPLE ORCHARD First Line: The wind's an old man Last Line: You can see him %still rolling about in his sleep Subject(s): Farm Life IN JANUARY First Line: Only one cell in the frozen hive of night Last Line: The bigger the window, the more it trembles IN JANUARY, 1962 Poem Text First Line: With his hat on the table before him Last Line: Near the soft gray felt hat on the table Subject(s): Grandparents; Death; Winter; Country Life; Old Age IN JANUARY, 1962 First Line: With his hat on the table before him Last Line: Those hard old hands which lay curled and still %near the soft gray felt hat on the table Subject(s): Poetry And Poets IN LATE SPRING First Line: One of the national guard's f-4 jet fighters Last Line: And brushes the dust from his satin sleeves IN PASSING Poem Text First Line: From a half block off I see you coming, Subject(s): Hope; Identity; Memory; Optimism IN PASSING First Line: From a half block off I see you coming Last Line: But not touching. I could not let you know %that I've forgotten, and yet you know IN THE ALLEY Poem Text First Line: N the alley behind the florist's shop Subject(s): Refuse And Refuse Removal; Language; Words; Vocabulary IN THE BASEMENT OF THE GOODWILL STORE Poem Text Recitation First Line: In musty light, in the thin brown air Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Dissenters; Exiles; Marginality, Social; Estrangement; Outcasts IN THE BASEMENT OF THE GOODWILL STORE First Line: In musty light, in the thin brown air Subject(s): Alienation (social Psychology); Dissenters; Exiles; Marginality, Social IN THE CORNERS OF FIELDS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Something is calling to me Subject(s): Farm Life; Agriculture; Farmers IN THE CORNERS OF FIELDS First Line: Something is calling to me Last Line: So sure of its life %that it peacefully opens its wings Subject(s): Farm Life IN THE HALL OF BONES First Line: Here we store the reassembled Last Line: In which once throbbed a heart %made sad by brooding on its shadow INDIANS WERE TOO SMART INTERCHANGE First Line: A whistling knot of highway Last Line: Bends over its long legs, fishing %for nothing, for nothing at all. JACQUARD SHAWL First Line: A pattern of curly acanthus leaves Last Line: Into the faintly bleating, barking loom JANUARY 19TH - STILL THAWING, BREEZY Poem Text First Line: Arthritic and weak, my old dog, hattie Subject(s): January JANUARY 19TH - STILL THAWING, BREEZY First Line: Arthritic and weak, my old dog, hattie Last Line: At the spot that leads out of the world Subject(s): January JANUARY 27TH -- THIRTY-FOUR DEGREES AND CLEAR First Line: Fifty or sixty small gray birds with crests Last Line: As they sprinkled their breathtaking silence %into another bare tree JAR OF BUTTONS First Line: This is a core sample Last Line: Made small but important repairs JUST NOW Poem Text First Line: Just now, if I look back down Subject(s): Memory JUST NOW Subject(s): Memory JUST NOW First Line: Just now, if I look back down Subject(s): Memory LADDER First Line: Against the low roof of a house LAST TOMATO First Line: It is hard for an old man not to make too much Last Line: Their summer brightness, burning, burning LATE FEBRUARY Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: The first warm day, Subject(s): Country Life; Winter LATE LIGHTS IN MINNESOTA First Line: At the end of a freight train rolling away Last Line: Among the red eyes of her cats LATVIAN NEIGHBORHOOD First Line: Along this street LAUNDRY First Line: A pink house trailer LETTER First Line: I have tried a dozen ways LETTER IN OCTOBER First Line: Dawn comes later and later now Last Line: Who only wished to keep looking out, %must now keep looking in LINCOLN, NEBRASKA First Line: Rainy today in this city Last Line: Holds out the cautious welcome %of an embassy LITTLE HATS First Line: I saw the old men hanging down under their little hats Last Line: Streamlined and swift, their engines idling LOBOCRASPIS GRISEIFUSA Poem Text First Line: This is the tiny moth that lives on tears Subject(s): Moths LOBOCRASPIS GRISEIFUSA First Line: Whis is the tiny moth who lives ontears Last Line: Rubbing the dust of his wings from your eyes LOIS MAE ROYCE WAS TEACHING LOST FORGE First Line: It stood somewhere in summer Last Line: It wanted to tell me LUNCH HOUR First Line: She sits in a spot of sun on a park bench Last Line: Over the city, into the racing clouds MAN WHO MEASURES HIMSELF AGAINST MONEY MEMORY Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Spinning up dust and Subject(s): Memory; Farm Life; Agriculture; Farmers MEMORY First Line: Spinning up dust and cornshucks Last Line: And there at its tip was the nib of a pen MONDAY IN MAY First Line: It rained all weekend MOTHER Poem Text First Line: Mid april already, and the wild plums Subject(s): Death - Mothers; Dead, The MOTHER First Line: Mid april already, and the wild plums Last Line: I would have to be lonely forever MOURNERS First Line: After the funeral, the mourners gather Last Line: Slow to let go of each other's hands MOUSE First Line: On the floor of a parking garage MOUSE ON THE PIANO First Line: Hers (or is it his?)is a new Last Line: Fall all night like moonbeams %through the lifting dust MUSHROOM HUNTERS First Line: In the green cathedral of nettles, %in the incense of dew, in the hymn Last Line: As if they'd been placed there to wait %for the flames of our hands MY GRANDFATHER DYING Poem Text First Line: I could see bruises or shadows Subject(s): Family Life; Relatives MY GRANDFATHER DYING First Line: I could see bruises or shadows Subject(s): Family Life MY HENRY WAS CUTTING ICE MY MAIDEN NAME WAS HANNA MYRTLE First Line: Wearing her yellow rubber slicker NECKTIE First Line: His hands fluttered like birds Last Line: To himself with both hands NEW CAP First Line: Brown corduroy, %the earflaps tied on top Last Line: The cap or he, %might blow away NEW MOON Poem Text First Line: How much it must bear on its back Subject(s): Moon NEW MOON First Line: How much it must bear on its back Last Line: May I smile on the world like the moon NIGHT CLASS First Line: An autumn evening, dry leaves Last Line: The left one, in the hollow there %through which a pale light glows NOCTURNE First Line: On the old man's face Last Line: The wings fan out and leave a trace of dust %on the cooling,moist glass of the face NORTH OF ALLIANCE Poem Text First Line: This is an empty house; not a stick Subject(s): Houses, Deserted NOVEMBER DAWN First Line: First light a six, and sounds that have all night OCEANS OF FUN First Line: A man on his back comes bumping down Last Line: To whitecaps, bending the manicured grasses- %at more than a thousand miles an hour OLD CEMETERY First Line: Somebody has been here this morning Last Line: That leads nowhere the dead want to go OLD DOG IN MARCH First Line: From a cold stone stoop Last Line: And frosty muzzle, %he sips the cool, delicious, %richly storied wind OLD LILACS First Line: Through early april cold Last Line: Among them, breathing OLD PEOPLE First Line: Pantcuffs rolled, and in old shoes Last Line: Letting their eyes adjust to the future ON THE ROAD First Line: By the toe of my boot Last Line: Put it back and keep walking Variant Title(s): Sixty-first Birthda ONCOLOGY WAITING ROOM First Line: They push their fingers into the cold trickle Last Line: Then place it gray and useless on a chair ONE MAN WHO WAS LOST THAT DAY ONE OF THE HOLVERSON BOYS ONE OF THE OLDER BOYS DARED ONION WOMAN First Line: All of the clothes she owns OSAGE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Imagine a wood Subject(s): Osage Wood PAST First Line: What we remember of it Last Line: In what we have so carefully %created and directed PASTURE TREES First Line: Generations of cows, long gone to market Last Line: To eat the very trees that gave them shade PATCH OF SUNLIGHT First Line: Over the old dog's eye PEARL First Line: Elkader, iowa, a morning in march Last Line: The sum of the spoons in the kitchen drawer PEELING A POTATOE First Line: Pablo casals should see me now Last Line: The light in my hair. Inspiration %trickles over my handsome old hands PEGBOARD First Line: It has been carefully painted Last Line: And never returned PITCH First Line: Tight on the fat man's wrist PLACE IN KANSAS First Line: Somewhere in kansas, a friend found Last Line: It's like that in kansas, forever Subject(s): Farm Life POCKET POEM Poem Text First Line: If this comes creased and creased again and soiled Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips POCKET POEM First Line: If this comes creased and creased again and soiled Subject(s): Travel POEM BEFORE BREAKFAST Poem Text First Line: A small brown bird flies toward me Subject(s): Birds; Morning POEM BEFORE BREAKFAST First Line: A small brown bird flies toward me Last Line: Borne skillfully over the water, %and I blessed to recive itt POEM FOR MY WIFE First Line: The hog-nosed snake, when playing dead Last Line: Please flip me once, like the hog-nosed snake POETRY READING First Line: Once you were young along a river, tree to tree Last Line: Turning your better eye down to the work %of eating your words as you go POINT OF VIEW First Line: Not all of the raindrops are at rest Last Line: Their m muscular bodies fiercely shining PORCH SWING IN SEPTEMBER Poem Text First Line: The porch swing hangs fixed in a morning sun Subject(s): Transience; Impermanence PORCH SWING IN SEPTEMBER PRAYING HANDS First Line: There is at least one pair Last Line: As it rests between flowers QUARTER MOON JUST BEFORE DAWN First Line: There's sun on the moon's back RACK OF TIRES First Line: On a rainbow of oil-stains in front of the goodyear store stand the Last Line: Spring, to lash out snapping at the waiting road RAINY MORNING First Line: A young woman in a wheelchair Last Line: While the wind turns the pages of rain RIDE First Line: High in the night we rock, we rock in the stars RIDING THE BUS IN MIDWINTER Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: If a barn could loosen itself Subject(s): Buses; Farm Life; Agriculture; Farmers ROADSIDE SHRINE IN KANSAS First Line: Sunk into the earth ROOM IN THE PAST First Line: It's a kitchen. Its curtains fill Subject(s): Family Life SALESMAN First Line: Today he's wearing his vinyl shoes Last Line: Then crawls in under the basement steps, %making the jingle of coin with its tags Subject(s): Salespersons SCREECH OWL Poem Text First Line: All night each reedy whinny Subject(s): Owls SCREECH OWL First Line: All night each reedy whinny Last Line: It calls out again and again SEARCHING PARTIES STARTED OUT SEASONED MARRIAGE First Line: Two-thirty a.M. A pale, icy glow Last Line: Has passed between us, nor need pass SELECTING A READER Poem Text First Line: First, I would have her be beautiful, Subject(s): Poetry & Poets SELECTING A READER First Line: First, I would have her be beautiful Last Line: For that kind of money, I can get %my raincoat cleaned.' and she will SELF-PORTRAIT AT THIRTY-NINE First Line: A barber is cutting the hair; %his fingers, perfumed by a rainbow Last Line: Where women pass it with a smile. %good dog, old face; good dog, good dog SHOES First Line: In the shoe store storage closet Last Line: Their toes turned up from forever %walking uphill in the rain SHOOTING A FARMHOUSE First Line: The first few wounds are nearly invisible Last Line: The old woman's dishes %begin to blow back and forth through the rooms SIGH First Line: You lie in your bed and sigh Subject(s): Sighs SITE First Line: A fenced-in square of sand and yellow grass Last Line: The county provided the paper and the jars SKATER Poem Text First Line: She was all in black but for a yellow pony tail Subject(s): Memory; Skating & Skaters; Sports SKATER First Line: She was all in black but for a yellow pony tail Last Line: At the woman she'd been just an instant before Subject(s): Memory; Skating And Skaters; Sports SKYWALK First Line: It bridges the busy street, building to building, Last Line: And his beautiful wings to unfold SLEEPING CAT; FOR LINDA ULRICH Poem Text First Line: My cat is asleep on his haunches Last Line: Into the blinding, bright rooms of his eyes Subject(s): Cats SLEEPING CAT; FOR LINDA ULRICH First Line: My cat is asleep on his haunches Last Line: The cat will come scampering back %into the blinding, bright rooms in his eyes Subject(s): Nature SNAKE First Line: Fear lies in the grass at the place SNAKESKIN Poem Text First Line: It is only the old yellow shell Subject(s): Snakes; Time; Serpents; Vipers SNAKESKIN First Line: It is only the old yellow shell Last Line: Nothing it knows is ahead. %its whistle flicks into the distance SNOW FENCE Poem Text First Line: The red fence Last Line: Much to carry Subject(s): Fences; Roads SNOW FENCE First Line: The red fence Subject(s): Travel SO GO THE OLD STORIES SO THIS IS NEBRASKA Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: The gravel road rides with a slow gallop Subject(s): Nebraska SO THIS IS NEBRASKA First Line: The gravel road rides with a slow gallop SOME KINDS OF LOVE First Line: On a warm june day Last Line: His broad face all drawn in %around a small wet smile SORGHUM MOLASSES First Line: In this jar, just the weight of a heart Last Line: And the hard rubber tip from a cane SOUND IN THE NIGHT First Line: There's a clock at the end of the pasture Last Line: And reaches out into the darkness %and over the years for my mother's hand SPARKLERS First Line: I scratched your name in longhand Last Line: Trembling along on the darkness, %and that was my name, my name SPIDER EGGS First Line: In the shadows under the cellar stairs Last Line: And pulling all the light in after it, %one fifty-watt at a time SPIRAL NOTEBOOK First Line: The bright wire rolls like a porpoise Last Line: As if it were some kind of wonder SPLITTING AN ORDER Poem Text First Line: I like to watch an old man cutting a sandwich in half Subject(s): Food & Eating; Old Age; Man-wiman Relationships SPRING PLOWING Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: West of omaha, the freshly-plowed fields Subject(s): Nature SPRING PLOWING First Line: West of omaha, the freshly-plowed fields Last Line: They keep tgheir lanterns covered Subject(s): Nature STARLIGHT Poem Text First Line: All night, this soft rain from the distant past STARLIGHT First Line: All night, this soft rain from the distant past Last Line: No wonder I sometimes waken as a child STARLINGS First Line: A flight of starlings has a hundred voices STATUE OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER First Line: Because he was always to stand there Last Line: Making it look so terribly easy STONEWARE CROCK First Line: Take hold of this old five-gallon crock Last Line: Upon the vacuum, and the morning air %is wild with flags of vinegar STREAM BED Poem Text First Line: In the poplars Subject(s): Streams; Toads STREAM BED First Line: In the poplars, %the hot rattle Last Line: And the toad sets out %to market, %blinking STUDENT Poem Text First Line: The green shell of his backpack makes him lean Subject(s): Students STUDENT First Line: The green shell of his backpack makes him lean Last Line: And lumbers, heavy with hope, into the library STUMP-BURNING IN SPRING First Line: For almost a week, the uprooted stump Last Line: From under the bill of his bright red cap SUNSET First Line: The steeple so carefully SURVEYORS First Line: They have come from the past Last Line: And though they cannot see us, %helpfully we wave back SURVIVING First Line: There are days when the fear of death Last Line: The tiny antennae stop moving SWEEPER First Line: It is morning. My father Last Line: With an old yellow oar- %happy there, hailing his friends SWINGING FROM PARENTS First Line: The child walks between her father and mother Last Line: The child puts her trust in, lifting her knees, %swinging her feet out over the world TATTOO Poem Text Subject(s): Tattoos; Old Age TATTOO First Line: What once was meant to be a statement Last Line: His heart gone soft and blue with stories TECTONICS First Line: In only a few months Last Line: Scarcely rippling the heart TELESCOPE First Line: This is the pipe that pierces the dam Last Line: Beneath the straining wall of darkness THAT MORNING, THE SUN HAD BEEN OUT THAT SPRING, WHEN THE WEATHER WARMED THAT WAS I First Line: I was that older man you saw sitting Last Line: That it could snare and eat. Yes, that was I THE BACK DOOR Poem Text First Line: The door which through we step out Subject(s): Past THE CHINA PAINTERS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: They have set aside their black tin boxes, Subject(s): Paintings & Painters THE EARLY BIRD Poem Text First Line: Still dark and raining hard Subject(s): Birds THE GIANT SLIDE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Beside the highway, the giant slide Subject(s): Amusement Parks; Transience; Impermanence THE GOLDFISH FLOATS TO THE TOP OF HIS LIFE Poem Text THE GREAT GRANDPARENTS Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: As small children, we were taken to meet them. Subject(s): Grandparents; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers THE MOUSE Poem Text First Line: On the floor of a parking garage Subject(s): Mice; Death - Animals THE SALESMAN Poem Text First Line: Today he's wearing his vinyl shoes Last Line: Making the jingle of coin with its tags Subject(s): Salespersons; Selling THE SIGH Poem Text First Line: You lie in your bed and sigh Subject(s): Sighs THE URINE SPECIMEN Poem Text First Line: In the clinic, a sun-bleached shell of stone Subject(s): Urinalysis THE VERY OLD Poem Text First Line: The very old are forever Subject(s): Old Age THE WITNESS Poem Text First Line: The divorce judge has asked for a witness Subject(s): Trials; Divorce THERE IS ALWAYS A LITTLE WIND Poem Text Recitation by Author Subject(s): Cemeteries; Country Life; Graveyards THEY HAD TORN OFF MY FACE AT THE OFFICE Poem Text THEY HAD TORN OFF MY FACE AT THE OFFICE Last Line: It pleases them to have helped me, %and I gain in speed and confidence Subject(s): Office Employees THIS PAPER BOAT Poem Text First Line: Carefully placed upon the future, Subject(s): Messages & Messangers THOUGHTS ON WINTER Poem Text First Line: Few long-time city dwellers who move to the country for peace and quiet Last Line: I was able to accomplish all that in just three hours, and the guys at the firestone didn't get a ce Subject(s): Winter; Country Life TILLAGE MARKS Poem Text Recitation by Author Subject(s): Farm Life; Stones; Agriculture; Farmers; Granite; Rocks TILLAGE MARKS First Line: On this flat stone TIME OF THEIR LIVES First Line: Today my ducks are eating windfalls Last Line: Of my table saw, they heard a hawk's wings %dust the blue bowl of the sky TOUCHSTONE First Line: Found on the shoulder Last Line: I find him by a road three hundred miles %from home? TRACKS Poem Text First Line: Using a cobbler's shoe last Subject(s): Shoes; Boots; Sneakers; Shoemakers TREEHOUSE Poem Text First Line: Whose kite was this? Subject(s): Travel; Journeys; Trips TREEHOUSE First Line: Whose kite was this? Subject(s): Travel TURKEY VULTURES Poem Text First Line: Circling above us, their wingtips fanned Subject(s): Vultures TURKEY VULTURES First Line: Circling above us, their wingtips fanned Last Line: Have fallen behind with the making of shrouds URINE SPECIMEN First Line: In the clinic, a sun-bleached shell of stone VERY OLD First Line: The very old are forever %hurting themselves Last Line: On crutces and canes, %perennial, %checking their gauges for rain VISITANT AT FIVE A.M. First Line: It was there on the arm of my rocker Last Line: And it was morning, and the house was cold VOYAGER II SATELLITE First Line: The tin man is cold WALKING AT NOON NEAR THE BURLINGTON DEPOT IN LINCOLN First Line: On the rat-gray dock WALKING BESIDE A CREEK Poem Text WALKING BESIDE A CREEK Last Line: The lifeblood thudding %in their tight, wet boots Subject(s): Nature WALKING ON TIPTOE Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: Long ago we quit lifting our heels Subject(s): Animals; Conduct Of Life WALKING ON TIPTOE First Line: Long ago we quit lifting our heels Last Line: And suddenly able to see in the dark WALKING TO WORK Poem Text First Line: Today, it's the obsidian Subject(s): Walking WASHING OF HANDS First Line: She turned on the tap and a silver braid Last Line: Though I was there WE LIVED IN LOOKING-GLASS VALLEY WE OLDER STUDENTS WENT HOME WE WERE OUT OF FLOUR FOR BREAD WEATHER CENTRAL First Line: Each evening at six-fifteen, the weatherman Last Line: Asleep in her stall on a peaceful moonlit night WHEN THE WIND AND SNOWSTORM STRUCK WIDOW First Line: She's combed his neckties out of her hair Last Line: She's scrubbed the floor around the toilet. %she hates him even more for dying WILD ASPARAGUS First Line: Just before frost, because I liked the looks of it, I cut a hollow section Last Line: Enemy approaching, his black rubber boots sucking and blowing WINTER MORNING First Line: A farmhouse window far back from the highway Last Line: And against the starry cold, one small blue ring of flame WITNESS First Line: The divorce judge has asked for a witness WOMAN WHO JUMPS First Line: In her sixties and thin, she wears %a long navy dress and a torn straw hat Last Line: Dropping from somewhere %to spend a few steps on the earth WYOMING LANDSCAPE First Line: In the windy concert hall %of eastern wyoming Last Line: To withhold their applause YEAR'S END Poem Text First Line: Now the seasons are closing their files Subject(s): Loss YEAR'S END First Line: Now the seasons are closing their files Last Line: We fell in love again, finding %that one red feather on the wind Subject(s): Loss YEVTUSHENKO Poem Text First Line: Yevtushenko, you came to nebraska Subject(s): Yevtushenko, Yevgeny (b. 1933) YEVTUSHENKO First Line: Yevtushenko, you came to nebraska Last Line: And when you thanked him, yevtushenko, for this time, %he said it was all part of the job Subject(s): Yevtushenko, Yevgeny (b. 1933) ZENITH Poem Text Recitation by Author First Line: It was part of her parlour's darkness Subject(s): Grandparents; World War Ii; Radio; Grandmothers; Grandfathers; Great Grandfathers; Great Grandmothers; Second World War ZENITH First Line: It was part of her parlor's darkness Last Line: In the weak yellow glow from the war |
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