TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006 — Many poems celebrate the joys of having children. Michigan poet Jeff Vande Zande reminds us that adults make mistakes, even with children they love, and that parenting is about fear as well as joy.

Clean

Her small body shines
with water and light.
Giggling, she squeals “daddy,”
splashes until his pants darken.
Five more minutes, he thinks,
stepping out quickly,
pouring himself a drink,
not expecting to return
to find her slipped under,
her tiny face staring up
through the undulating surface.
Before he can move,
or drop his scotch,
she raises her dripping head,
her mouth a perfect O.
The sound of her gulped breath
takes the wind out of him.
Her face,
pale and awed,
understands the other side
of water and air.
His wife didn’t see,
doesn’t know.
Her feet pulse and fade
in the upstairs joists.
His daughter cries,
slips from him, not giggling.
She wants out.
He tries to keep her
in the tub, in the light.
He’s on his knees.

Reprinted from “Rattle,” Winter, 2005, by permission of the poet, whose most recent book is “Into the Desperate Country,” March Street Press, 2006. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.

De Camptown ladies sing dis song — Doo-dah! doo-dah!

De Camptown racetrack five miles long — Oh! doo-dah day!

I come down dah wid my hat caved in — Doo-dah! doo-dah!

I go back home wid a pocket full of tin — Oh! doo-dah day!



Chorus



Gwine to run all night! Gwine to run all day!

I’ll bet my money on de bob-tail nag — Somebody bet on de bay!



De long tail filly and de big black hoss — Doo-dah! doo-dah!

Dey fly de track and dey both cut across — Oh! doo-dah day!

De blind hoss sticken in a big mud hole — Doo-dah! doo-dah!

Can’t touch bottom wid a ten foot pole — Oh! doo-dah day!



Chorus



Old muley cow come on to de track — Doo-dah! doo-dah!

De bob-tail fling her ober his back — Oh! doo-dah day!

Den fly along like a rail-road car — Doo-dah! doo-dah!

Runnin’ a race with a shootin’ star — Oh! doo-dah day!



Chorus



Seen dem flyin’ on a ten mile heat — Doo-dah! doo-dah!

Round de race track, den repeat — Oh! doo-dah day!

I win my money on de bob-tail nag — Doo-dah! doo-dah!

I keep my money in an old tow-bag — Oh! doo-dah day!

Chorus

—Stephen C. Foster, (1826-1864)

technorati tags:poem, poetry, stephencfoster, stephen, foster, song

What is the day?

I don’t remember.

Today is Tuesday.
It must be the 19th (or 17th),
I only know we are a day away
from the 18th.

Of what?

October.

October. Then.
Is this a poem?

It isn’t meant to be
a poem.

Then why the line breaks?

To indicate “this is where
the line breaks.”

Then it is a poem?

Of course not.

What are you saying?

There is nothing…
I’m not saying anything.

Again.

Other than this one thing.

Have mercy.

Yes.
Have mercy.

I reject that story.
That is your story

of what of how I came
here, but it doesn’t

have to be mine – 

so it will not be
mine.

I was rather
pushed

but would not be
rushed

or pulled into the cold world
before the world

was ready to know

this world was ready to know
this flawed world

in which the slightest crease
a fold of shirtwaist

could not make the day
could not change the day

could not change or envigorate
the story

, my story,
my story, this story,

alive.

I don’t remember – 
except you
wouldn’t come
and you wouldn’t come
and ever since you have been
a procrastinator
you will likely always be.
It is your lot.

Or how you became
how you become.
late – inconvenient – a problem.

It’s who you are
who you are

you are.

This echo
echoes,
and teaches
what you don’t know

and what you don’t know
kills.

Attendant Accountants Store
Managers Safety Officer
Computer Engineer Satellite Controllers
Fitness Instructor Receptionist
Computer Operators Deck Supervisors
Food & Beverage Manager Assistant Housekeeping Managers
General Laborer Housekeeping Manager
Cruise Staffs Lifeguards
Administration Assistants Customer Service Rep.
Deck Officers Chief Purser Assistant Purser
Assistant Waiter Bar Tenders
Hospitality Manager Chefs
Steward etc.

APPLICANT IS ADVISED
TO APPLY FOR A JOB
WITH HIS / HER C.V,
AN APPLICATION LETTER
AND ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS
(CERTIFICATES).