United States, (b. 1946)
Pig on the Ice
ca. 1853
- After the service, we dutiful few
- followed the shouts and laughter to the pond.
- All Seneca was out, even the new
- German grocer and his four children, blond,
- blue-eyed replicas of his ninth-month Frau,
- with red cheeks. Brown ladies skated like swans,
- crinolines billowing. Brave curliques
- cut the smooth ice. Couples held mittened hands.
- Runny-nosed brown and pink boys cracked the whip.
- Above bare trees, clouds swept across the sky.
- Then one of the Murphy’s pigs decided to tip
- after the children, slid, and flew sky-high!
- Squealing its head off, it skidded and slipped,
- toppling brown and white indiscriminately.
- Nations of expletives sprang from our lips!
About the Poet:
Marilyn Nelson (aka: Marilyn Nelson Waniek), United States, (b. 1946), is a poet, educator, translator, and children’s book author. She earned her BA from the University of California, Davis, an MA from the University of Pennsylvania (1970) and a PhD from the University of Minnesota (1979).
Nelson is author of The Homeplace (1990), a Finalist for the 1991 National Book Award; The Fields of Praise (1997) a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN Winship Award; and several other collections of poems, including For the Body and The Cat Walked Through the Casserole and Other Poems for Children.
In 2013, Nelson was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Nelson is a professor emerita of English at the University of Connecticut; founder and director of Soul Mountain Retreat, a small writers’ colony; and the former (2001—2006) Poet Laureate of the State of Connecticut. [DES-03/22]
Additional information:
- Marilyn Nelson – https://marilyn-nelson.com/