Poem #7 for Poetry Month -- "Depression Glass"

[nightdog_barks]

From the American poet Ted Kooser. Depression glass was popular during the Great Depression in the U.S., and is collected by lots of folks today.



Depression Glass

It seemed those rose-pink dishes
she kept for special company
were always cold, brought down
from the shelf in jingling stacks,
the plates like the panes of ice
she broke from the water bucket
winter mornings, the flaring cups
like tulips that opened too early
and got bitten by frost. They chilled
the coffee no matter how quickly
you drank, while a heavy
everyday mug would have kept
a splash hot for the better
part of a conversation. It was hard
to hold up your end of the gossip
with your coffee cold, but it was
a special occasion, just the same,
to sit at her kitchen table
and sip the bitter percolation
of the past week’s rumors from cups
it had taken a year to collect
at the grocery, with one piece free
for each five pounds of flour.



~ Ted Kooser
From Delights and Shadows, Copper Canyon Press, 2004
Online source here.

Comments

[pwcorgigirl]

Oh, that's lovely, especially the bitter percolation of the past week’s rumors.

[nightdog_barks]

Isn't that terrific? I love it that the plates are cold and the cups chill your coffee, and how the plain everyday mug would have been better. Kooser has such a great eye for the small detail.