I love richly detailed descriptive poems, and this one by Barbara Crooker, who lives in Pennsylvania, is a good example of how vivid a picture a poem can offer to us. Her most recent book is Selected Poems, (Future Cycle Press, 2015).
Strewn
It’d been a long winter, rags of snow hanging on; then, at the end
of April, an icy nor’easter, powerful as a hurricane. But now
I’ve landed on the coast of Maine, visiting a friend who lives
two blocks from the ocean, and I can’t believe my luck,
out this mild morning, race-walking along the strand.
Every dog within fifty miles is off-leash, running
for the sheer dopey joy of it. No one’s in the water,
but walkers and shellers leave their tracks on the hardpack.
The flat sand shines as if varnished in a painting. Underfoot,
strewn, are broken bits and pieces, deep indigo mussels, whorls
of whelk, chips of purple and white wampum, hinges of quahog,
fragments of sand dollars. Nothing whole, everything
broken, washed up here, stranded. The light pours down, a rinse
of lemon on a cold plate. All of us, broken, some way
or other. All of us dazzling in the brilliant slanting light.
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 ©2015 by Barbara Crooker, “Strewn,” from More (C&R Press, 2010). Poem reprinted by permission of Barbara Crooker and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2015 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.
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| Allan Browne | |
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| Birth name | Allan Vincent Browne |
| Born | 28 July 1944 |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Drummer, Composer |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1960's - Present |
| Labels | JazzHead, Newmarket Music |
| Website | www |
Robert Gray
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Judith Beveridge
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| Editors' Picks |
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 |  | Earshot: Rilke in Ronda In late 1912, German poet Rainer Maria Rilke had a titanic case of writer's block. Unable to find poetic inspiration, he left his home in Paris and travelled to Ronda, a spectacular town in the mountains of Andalusia. Trace Rilke's steps more than 100 years later. Listen | Read |
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 | | RN Afternoons: Michael Leunig on life, art and vaccinations RN Afternoons speaks to one of the most polarising, peculiar, philosophical figures of Australian art, Michael Leunig — an Australian living treasure and the subject of recent intense public critique. Listen | Watch |
 | Far From the Madding Crowd movie nightby Paul Clifford |
| WHERE: | Windsor Cinema 98 Stirling Hwy Nedlands WA 6009 |
| WHEN: | Sunday, June 28 6pm start for 6:30pm screening |
| TICKETS: | $25.00 PURCHASE HERE |
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Opportunities for writers
This year, the winning story will receive a $4000 cash prize and will be published on the label of a Story Wines vintage, as well as in Overland’s last print issue of 2015. Two runners-up will each receive $500 and be published at Overland online to coincide with the release of the print magazine, and on the labels of different Story Wines vintages. Read the entry guide for more information.
We’re pleased to announce that Overland is a proud sponsor of Queensland Poetry Festival’s new spoken word prize – the first of its kind in Australia!
Open to all Australian residents, the prize offers a first place of $1000, and two runner-up prizes of $250. Winning entries will be published at overland.org.au. The 2015 judges are Karina Quinn, Pascalle Burton and Kate Durbin. Visit the Queensland Poetry Festival for details.
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