The brothers’ related banter…
J: Hank, would you like a short poem for today?
H: Is your short poem about 2D glasses?
J: It is not. It is about grief.
H: Okay, sure.
J: Sorry to ruin your day. It’s by Raymond Carver. It’s called Grief.
(Reads poem)
Grief by Raymond Carver. I love that poem, really gets me, gets me, like, just below the solar plexus.
H: Hmm. That’s a soft spot.
J: I can tell that you prefer the funny poems.
H: (Laughs) I was a little bit unable to keep the train of thought on that one. My dog was being cute.
J: Can I tell you a poem that I think is quite funny, that’s two lines long by Ogden Nash?
H: Okay, sure.
J: I think it’s actually four lines long.
H: That is, those are some short lines if that’s a four-line poem.
J: Yeah, I thought you would like that one, ’cause it’s funny, but maybe you’re just paying attention to your dog instead of listening to me.
H: I did, I… No, I did, I did. I liked it, I’ve heard it before. In fact, I didn’t ever consider it so much a poem (John laughs) as something people say.
tumblr
Click to read poem
Woke up early this morning and from my bed
looked far across the Strait to see
a small boat moving through the choppy water,
a single running light on. Remembered
my friend who used to shout
his dead wife’s name from hilltops
around Perugia. Who set a plate
for her at his simple table long after
she was gone. And opened the windows
so she could have fresh air. Such display
I found embarrassing. So did his other
friends. I couldn’t see it.
Not until this morning.
John Green Reads Poetry 