Gray Upon Gray

Just the dry husk of a big farmhouse
far back from the highway, one of those
foursquare, four bedroom, hipped roof
houses as common as hay bales, part of
a thick stand of young and old trees,
like a box in a gray wicker basket
pushed to the back of a shelf, not one
track up the snowy lane, all of the glass
shot out but the shadows not pouring
over the windowsills onto the snow,
the front door left open, the entryway
dusty and black, like tar on a tree
where a branch tore away, a whole branch
of the Sundermans, Muellers, or Grays.

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Ted Kooser

Ted Kooser’s most recent book is Kindest Regards; New and Selected Poems, from Copper Canyon Press. His fourth children’s book, Mr. Posey's New Glasses, was published in 2018 by Candlewick Press.He lives in rural Nebraska and teaches writing part time at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Also by Ted Kooser (see all)

• Driving to Dwight - September 22, 2019
• Gray Upon Gray - March 4, 2018

Author: Ted Kooser

Ted Kooser’s most recent book is Kindest Regards; New and Selected Poems, from Copper Canyon Press. His fourth children’s book, Mr. Posey's New Glasses, was published in 2018 by Candlewick Press. He lives in rural Nebraska and teaches writing part time at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. View all posts by Ted Kooser