Poetry Discussion: American Life in Poetry: Column 210

American Life in Poetry: Column 210

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

My father was the manager of a store in which chairs were strategically placed for those dutiful souls waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for shoppers. Such patience is the most exhausting work there is, or so it seems at the time. This poem by Joseph O. Legaspi perfectly captures one of those scenes.


At the Bridal Shop

The gowns and dresses hang
like fleece in their glaring
whiteness, sheepskin-softness,
the ruffled matrimonial love in which the brides- in-waiting dance around, expectantly, hummingbirds to tulips. I was dragged here:
David's Bridal, off the concrete-gray arterial highways of a naval town. I sink into the flush bachelors' couch, along with other men sprinkled throughout the shop, as my friend and her female compatriots parade taffeta dresses in monstrous shades of pastels--persimmons, lilacs, periwinkles--the colors of weddings and religious holidays. Trains drag on the floor, sleeves drape like limp, pressed sheets of candied fruits, ribbons fluttering like pale leaves. I watch families gathered together: the women, like worshippers, circling around the smiling brides-to-be, as if they were the anointed ones. The men, in turn, submerge deeper into couches, into sleep, while the haloed, veiled women cannot contain their joy, they flash their winning smiles, and they are beautiful.


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)2007 by Joseph O. Legaspi, whose most recent book of poems is "Imago," Cavankerry Press, 2007. Poem reprinted from "Crab Orchard Review," Vol. 12, no. 2, 2007, by permission of Joseph O. Legaspi. Introduction copyright (c) 2009 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.

@ the Library: March 29 - April 4, 2009

Activities and Programs for 3/29-4/4. Visit the Calendar, Kids Corner and Teen websites, or News & Activities (adult events) for details on all of this month's activities; some Kids/Teens events have limited availability and require registration.

Sunday, 3/29
no activities

Monday, 3/30
Baby Time - Kids - 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00 pm
Free Tax Assistance (LSC-CyFair Acct. Dept.) - 4:00 pm
Pajama Storytime - Kids - 6:30 pm

Tuesday, 3/31
Toddler Time - Kids - 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am
Game Time for Adults - 10:00am
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Teen Gaming - Teens - 4:30 pm
Family Stories - Kids - 6:30 pm
Computer Workshop - Gaming for Grownups - 7:00 pm

Wednesday, 4/1
LIFE Workshop - New in the Neighborhood - 10:00 am
Preschool Time - Kids - 10:00 am
Free Tax Assistance (AARP) - 12:00 pm
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm

Thursday, 4/2
Spanish Time - Kids - 11:00 am
Free Tax Assistance - 12:00 pm
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Craft Time - Kids - 5:00 pm
Game Night - Kids - 6:30 pm

Friday, 4/3
ESL - Book Club [First Friday Book Club] - 1:00 pm

Saturday, 4/4
Computer Workshop - Word: Essentials - 10:00 am
Computer Workshop - Introducción a Microsoft Excel - 12:00 pm
5th Annual Prom Dress Give-Away - Teens - 1:00 pm

Check it Out - "Child 44" by Tom Rob Smith

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith is a thriller set in Stalin era Russia where the government insists that crime doesn’t exist. The story has a quiet, methodic pace that gives the reader a visceral feel for a very bleak period in Russian history and the actions (or inactions) of its characters. A treat for fans of both thrillers and historical novels.

@ the Library: March 22-28, 2009

Activities and Programs for 3/22-3/28. Visit the Calendar, Kids Corner and Teen websites, or News & Activities (adult events) for details on all of this month's activities; some Kids/Teens events have limited availability and require registration.

Sunday, 3/22
Contemporary Books for Everyone Book Club - Teens - 2:00 pm

Monday, 3/23
Baby Time - Kids - 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00 pm
Free Tax Assistance (LSC-CyFair Acct. Dept.) - 4:00 pm
Mondays with Melanie-Evening Fun Activities - Teen - 6:30 pm
Pajama Storytime - Kids - 6:30 pm

Tuesday, 3/24
Toddler Time - Kids - 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am
Game Time for Adults - 10:00am
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Teen Gaming - Teens - 4:30 pm
Family Stories - Kids - 6:30 pm
Computer Workshop - Picture Storage & Sharing - 7:00 pm

Wednesday, 3/25
LIFE Workshop - The Commissioner is Back - 10:00 am
Preschool Time - Kids - 10:00 am
Free Tax Assistance (AARP) - 12:00 pm
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
I Love a Mystery Book Club - 1:00 pm
My First Book Club - Kids - 6:30 pm

Thursday, 3/26
Spanish Time - Kids - 11:00 am
Free Tax Assistance - 12:00 pm
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Craft Time - Kids - 5:00 pm
Game Night - Kids - 6:30 pm

Friday, 3/27
no activities

Saturday, 3/28
Brownie Try-It Workshop - Kids - 10:00 am
Computer Workshop - Picture Storage & Sharing - 10:00 am
5th Annual Prom Dress Give-Away - Teens - 1:00 pm

Poetry Discussion: American Life in Poetry: Column 208

American Life in Poetry: Column 208

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

To have a helpful companion as you travel through life is a marvelous gift. This poem by Gerald Fleming, a long-time teacher in the San Francisco public schools, celebrates just such a relationship.


Long Marriage

You're worried, so you wake her
& you talk into the dark:
Do you think I have cancer, you
say, or Were there worms
in that meat, or Do you think
our son is OK, and it's
wonderful, really--almost
ceremonial as you feel
the vessel of your worry pass
miraculously from you to her--
Gee, the rain sounds so beautiful,
you say--I'm going back to sleep.


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)2005 by Gerald Fleming. Reprinted from "Swimmer Climbing onto Shore," by Gerald Fleming, Sixteen Rivers Press, San Francisco, 2005, by permission of the author. Introduction copyright (c) 2009 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.

March Displays in the Library

Tax Forms
1/1-4/30
Select tax forms available till the end of April, additional forms available at www.irs.gov. Information about free tax assistance in the library available at http://cyfair.lonestar.edu/40781/

Salem Witch Trials
3/1-3/31
Did you know that the witch hysteria that gripped 1692 Salem extended even to dogs and toddlers? Discover more about this dark period in women's (and U.S.) history with books and videos from your library.

Got Microbes?
3/1-3/31
Hopefully not these bad guys. Learn more about these dastardly (and sometimes deadly) microbes.

Women's Month Women in ....
3/1-3/31
Discover women in sports, medicine, politics and other areas who have made significant contributions to the past, present and future.

Notable Women (part of Women's Month)
3/1-3/31
Check out biographies about women who have made an impact.

Women's Work (part of Women's Month)
3/1-3/31
View art created by the women of LSC-CyFair, their family and friends. Additional art displays located in the Center for the Arts building.

@ the Library: March 15-21, 2009

Activities and Programs for 3/15-3/21. Visit the Calendar, Kids Corner and Teen websites, or News & Activities (adult events) for details on all of this month's activities; some Kids/Teens events have limited availability and require registration.

Sunday, 3/15
no activities

Monday, 3/16
Baby Time - Kids - 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00 pm
Free Tax Assistance (LSC-CyFair Acct. Dept.) - 4:00 pm
Pajama Storytime - Kids - 6:30 pm

Tuesday, 3/17
Toddler Time - Kids - 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am
Game Time for Adults - 10:00am
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Teen Gaming - Teens - 4:30 pm
Family Stories - Kids - 6:30 pm
Women of the World Book Club - 6:30 pm
Computer Workshop - Email - 7:00 pm

Wednesday, 3/18
LIFE Workshop - 10:00 am
Preschool Time - Kids - 10:00 am
Free Tax Assistance (AARP) - 12:00 pm
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Tween Book Club - Kids - 6:30 pm

Thursday, 3/19
Spanish Time - Kids - 11:00 am
Free Tax Assistance - 12:00 pm
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Craft Time - Kids - 5:00 pm
Game Night - Kids - 6:30 pm

Friday, 3/20
Signing Time (ASL) - Kids - 10:00 am
Classics for Home Schooled Teens Book Club - Teens - 1:00 pm

Saturday, 3/21
Computer Workshop - Email - 10:00 am
smARTkids Spring 2009: Kids' Art Camp - 10:00 am
5th Annual Prom Dress Give-Away - Teens - 1:00 pm

@ the Library: March 8-14, 2009

Activities and Programs for 3/8-3/14. Visit the Calendar, Kids Corner and Teen websites, or News & Activities (adult events) for details on all of this month's activities, some Kids/Teens events have limited availability and require registration.

Sunday, 3/8
no activities

Monday, 3/9
Baby Time - Kids - 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Free Tax Assistance (LSC-CyFair Acct. Dept.) - 4:00 pm
Mondays with Melanie/Evening Fun Acitivities - Teens - 6:30pm
Pajama Storytime - Kids - 6:30 pm

Tuesday, 3/10
Toddler Time - Kids - 9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am
Game Time for Adults - 10:00am
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Teen Gaming - Teens - 4:30 pm
Family Stories - Kids - 6:30 pm
Computer Workshop - Excel: Beyond the Essentials - 7:00 pm

Wednesday, 3/11
LIFE Workshop - 10:00 am
Preschool Time - Kids - 10:00 am
Free Tax Assistance (AARP) - 12:00 pm
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Sports Page Book Club - 1:00pm

Thursday, 3/12
Spanish Time - Kids - 11:00 am
Free Tax Assistance - 12:00 pm
ESL-Talk Time Session - 1:00pm
Craft Time - Kids - 5:00 pm
Game Night - Kids - 6:30 pm

Friday, 3/13
no activities

Saturday, 3/14
Computer Workshop - Excel: Beyond the Essentials - 10:00 am
Passport Around the World - 2:00 pm

Poetry Discussion: A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Today we look at "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow was part of a group of poets classified as the Fireside Poets - a group of American poets known for their popular poems that followed conventional poetic forms and were thus easy to memorize and recite in the classroom and in the home (in front of the fire). Read more about the Fireside Poets here.

Please view the poem at the link above and come back to this site to leave your comments about the poem.