GotPoetry.com > > American Life in Poetry: Corned Beef and Cabbage
GotPoetry.com Writing Tools Reference Community Communication Entertainment Listen to GotPoetry Radio
Promote
Help
Toggle ContentToggle Content .:: Home :: Poems :: Workshop Forums :: Register :: Features ::.
Toggle Content Menu

Toggle Content User Info

Welcome Anonymous
Nickname
Password
(Register)
Membership:
Latest: lostsoul104
New Today: 0
New Yesterday: 8
Overall: 9338
People Online:
Members: 6
Visitors: 189
Bots: 5
Staff: 1
Staff Online:
01: Bogeyman

Toggle Content Paid Membership
Buy a paid membership and get more out of GotPoetry!

Advertise on the GotPoetry Advertising Network.

Toggle Content Get Published
Submit your poems, events and poetry news. No registration required.

American Life in Poetry: Corned Beef and Cabbage
American Life in Poetry BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

Memories have a way of attaching themselves to objects, to details, to physical tasks, and here, George Bilgere, an Ohio poet, happens upon mixed feelings about his mother while slicing a head of cabbage.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

I can see her in the kitchen,
Cooking up, for the hundredth time,
A little something from her
Limited Midwestern repertoire.
Cigarette going in the ashtray,
The red wine pulsing in its glass,
A warning light meaning
Everything was simmering
Just below the steel lid
Of her smile, as she boiled
The beef into submission,
Chopped her way
Through the vegetable kingdom
With the broken-handled knife
I use tonight, feeling her
Anger rising from the dark
Chambers of the head
Of cabbage I slice through,
Missing her, wanting
To chew things over
With my mother again.


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) 2002 by George Bilgere, whose most recent book of poetry is "Haywire," Utah State University Press, 2006. Poem reprinted from "The Good Kiss," published by The University of Akron Press, 2002, by permission of the author and publisher. 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.

Submitted by John on Monday, February 23, 2009 (17:57:33) (451 reads)

"Poems: American Life in Poetry: Corned Beef and Cabbage" | Login/Create an Account | 0 comments
Threshold
The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Toggle Content Related Links
 Previous: American Life in Poetry: The Cherry Tree
 Next: American Life in Poetry: Wild Flowers
 All: American Life in Poetry
Most read story about American Life in Poetry this month:

 Subscribe with Yahoo!
 Subscribe with NewsGator
 Subscribe with Bloglines
  Subscribe with Feedster
 Subscribe with Google

Toggle Content


Toggle Content Article Rating
Average Score: 5
Votes: 1


Please take a second and vote for this article:

Excellent
Very Good
Good
Regular
Bad


Toggle Content Spread the word
Copy and paste the following code in the box and add it to your web site:

Or submit this story directly to one of the following services:
BlinkList del.icio.us Digg Fark Furl Ma.gnolia NewsVine RawSugar Reddit Simpy Spurl TailRank 

Toggle Content Options

Toggle Content Discussion




GotPoetry - News for poets. Place to write.

GotPoetry is the most popular network of performance poets and poetry readings on the internet today.

Editors: John, Mamta and a cast of tens of others.
Publisher: John Powers

Content © 1998-2008
GotPoetry LLC. All rights reserved

Engine released under GNU GPL, Code Credits, Privacy Policy, Legal Notices

 Search:
 
GotPoetry.com Web

Forums Search
Gallery Search
Advanced Search

Link to Full Archives
Link to all News Topics

Link for all submission options for this site.

Subscribe - Use an RSS reader to stay up to date with the latest news and posts from GotPoetry.

GotPoetry News RSS Feed

Subscribe with Yahoo!
Subscribe with Google

Other GotPoetry RSS Syndication - You can syndicate other parts of our site using the following files:

Yesterday's Top News
Yesterday's Top Poems
Forums
New Photos
Blogs
Downloads
Featured Articles