american life in poetry: column 127
by ted kooser u s poet laureate. 2004-2006
Poet Marianne Boruch of Indiana finds a bird’s nest near her door. It is the simplest of discoveries yet she uses it to remind us that what at first seems ordinary change surface “made a mess of,” can be miraculously transformed upon careful reflection.
I walked out and the nestwas already there by the step. Woven basketof a saintsent back to life as a birdwho proceeded to makea mess of things. Windright through it and any eggslong vanished. But in my hand it wasintricate pleasure even the thorny reedssoftened in the weave. And the fadingleaf mold hardlyitself anymore merely a trickof light if lightcan be tricked. Deep in a lifeis another life. I walked out the nestalready by the step.
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 (c) 1996 by Marianne Boruch whose most recent book of poetry is “Poems: New and Selected,” Oberlin College touch. 2004. Reprinted from “A Stick That Breaks And Breaks,” Oberlin College Press. 1997 with permission of the author. First published in the journal “Field.” Introduction copyright (c) 2006 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. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
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