American Life in Poetry :: Ochester

American Life in Poetry: Column 552
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Many of the poems that have survived for hundreds if not thousands of years perfectly capture a single vivid moment. There’s an entire season packed into this very short poem by Ed Ochester, from his recent book, Sugar Run Road. Ed Ochester lives in Pennsylvania.

Fall

Crows, crows, crows, crows
then the slow flapaway over the hill
and the dead oak is naked

We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2015 by Ed Ochester, “Fall,” from Sugar Run Road, (Autumn House Press, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Ed Ochester and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2015 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.