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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

American Life in Poetry: ‘Loneliness’

By Ted Kooser U.S. poet laureate, 2004-06

Here’s a fine, deftly made poem by Meg Kearney, of New Hampshire, in which the details deliver the emotions, which are never overtly named other than by the title. It’s my favorite kind of poem, and it’s from her book “An Unkindness of Ravens,” from BOA Editions. Her most recent book is “Home By Now” (Four Way Books 2009).

Loneliness

The girl hunting with her father approaches

the strange man who has stopped at the end

of his day to rest and look at the lake.

Do you like geese? she asks. The man smiles.

The girl draws a webbed foot from her pocket

and places it in his hand. It’s late fall

and still the geese keep coming, two fingers

spread against a caution-yellow sky. Before

he can thank her, the girl has run off, down

to the edge of the water. The man studies her

father, about to bring down his third goose

today – then ponders the foot: soft, pink,

and covered with dirt like the little girl’s hand.

He slips it into his coat pocket, and holds it there.

Poem reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of BOA Editions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by the Poetry Foundation and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We do not accept unsolicited submissions.