Ode to Country Music by Sandra Simonds

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend August 19, 2014   Ode to Country Music   Sandra Simonds

If I wasn’t such a deadbeat, I’d learn Greek.     I wouldn’t write sonnets; I’d write epics and odes. I’d love a man who was     acceptable and conformed to every code. I’d put together my desk and write my epic or ode     at sunset over my suburb. How I would love my shrubs! But all I do is listen to country (and the occasional Joni)     and smoke. Judge me judge me judge me. Oh I’ve been through the shallows.     I shallow. I hope. I hole. I know I wrote you the most brutal love poem that knows.            Copyright @ 2014 by Sandra Simonds. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “I wrote this poem last summer, which was spent mostly getting myself into trouble and listening to country music on my record player. So, I guess this is a little love poem that celebrates the laziness of the summer season and the remarkable beauty of everyday life that much of country music can convey so well.  In addition, I think this poem is also a gentle critique of poetic ambition.”   —Sandra Simonds   Sandra Simonds is the author of Mother Was a Tragic Girl (Cleveland State University Press, 2012). She teaches at Thomas University and lives in Tallahassee, Florida. Most Recent Book by Simonds   Mother Was a Tragic Girl (Cleveland State University Press, 2012) "Ode to Lil' Kim in Florence" by Barbara Hamby "Get Up, Please" by David Kirby "The Banjo Player" by Fenton Johnson Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038