June Afternoon
by Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek
The sky is all covered with cobwebs,
wisps of them, drifting so high
that probably no one could reach them
with a rag on a broom, and not a soul
is trying. How did it come to this?
Hundreds of people with time on their hands,
and not one broom in the air!
© Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek, from Marshmallow Clouds (Walker Books, 2022)
Ted Kooser
Ted Kooser was the US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006 and won a Pulitzer Prize for his book of poems Delights & Shadows. His picture books include Bag in the Wind and The Bell in the Bridge, both illustrated by Barry Root; House Held Up by Trees, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year, illustrated by Jon Klassen; and Mr. Posey’s New Glasses, an International Literacy Association Children’s Choice, illustrated by Daniel Duncan. Ted Kooser lives in Garland, Nebraska.
Connie Wanek
Connie Wanek has been writing since her hand could hold a pencil. She is the author of four books of poetry, including Rival Gardens: New and Selected Poems, the second book in the Ted Kooser Contemporary Poetry Series. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.