"Sometimes" by Jack Ridl

Sometimes

Sometimes when the young men living
in the old house across the street are

readying to go golfing, fitting
their clubs into the car’s trunk,

they clear their throats in the odd cold
of the June morning. It’s early for them.

I am having a common cup of coffee,
have read a few poems, one by Li Po.

I do this simply to savor the illusion
of this harsh morning brew, that it

comforts the sight of the needles low
on the evergreen leaning over our pond,

the five aging koi still under the lilies.

Jack Ridl

Jack Ridl’s Practicing to Walk Like a Heron (Wayne State UP) received the ForeWords Review Gold Medal for poetry. Broken Symmetry (WSU Press) was named the year’s best book of poetry by The Society of Midland Authors. Losing Season (CavanKerry Press) was recognized by the Institute for International Sport as the year’s best sports-related book. Former U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins, selected his Against Elegies for the chapbook award from The NYC Center for Book Arts. Ridl is co-author with Peter Schakel of Approaching Literature (Bedford / St. Martin’s). Ridl served as Honorary Chancellor of the Poetry Society of Michigan, only the second poet presented with that honor. The Carnegie Foundation (CASE) named him Michigan’s Professor of the Year. More than 90 of his students are published.

Photo Credit: Staff