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from the issue of August 28, 2008
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American Life in Poetry
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006
We mammals are ferociously protective of our young, and we all know not to wander in between a sow bear and her cubs. Here Minnesota poet Gary Dop, without a moment's hesitation, throws himself into the water to save a frightened child.
Father, Child, Water
I lift your body to the boat
before you drown or choke
or slip too far
beneath. I didn't think - just jumped,
just did
what I did like the physics
that flung you in. My hands
clutch under
year-old arms, between your life
jacket and your bobbing frame,
pushing you,
like a fountain cherub, up and out.
I'm fooled by the warmth pulsing from
the gash on my thigh, sliced wide
and clean
by an errant screw on the stern.
No pain. My legs kick out blood below.
My arms strain
against our deaths to hold you up
as I lift you, crying, reaching,
to the boat.
Poem copyright (c) 2008 by Gary Dop. Reprinted from "New Letters", Vol. 74, No. 3, Spring 2008, by permission of Gary Dop. Introduction copyright (c) 2008 by The Poetry Foundation. This column is made possible by the Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org) and supported by the UNL Department of English. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.
GO TO: ISSUE OF AUGUST 28
ARTS HEADLINES FOR AUGUST 28
Art-o-mat project issues first UNL scholarship
Also @ the Ross
American Life in Poetry
ANDRILL duo offers Aug. 31 movie talk
Faculty Showcase Concert is Sept. 7
Gallery receives 'Conservation Bookshelf'
Great Plains museum participates in national assessment program
Korean patchwork exhibit opens 'Quilting Across the Globe' series
733282S38391X
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