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Coleman Barks, who lives in Georgia, is not only the English language’s foremost translator of the poems of the 13th century poet, Rumi, but he’s also a loving grandfather, and for me that’s even more important. His poems about his granddaughter, Briny, are brim full of joy. Here’s one:

Glad

In the glory of the gloaming-green soccer

field her team, the Gladiators, is losing

ten to zip. She never loses interest in

the roughhouse one-on-one that comes

every half a minute. She sticks her leg

in danger and comes out the other side running.

Later a clump of opponents on the street is chant-

ing, WE WON, WE WON, WE . . . She stands up

on the convertible seat holding to the wind-

shield. WE LOST, WE LOST BIGTIME, TEN TO

NOTHING, WE LOST, WE LOST. Fist pumping

air. The other team quiet, abashed, chastened.

Good losers don’t laugh last; they laugh

continuously, all the way home so glad.

Note: 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 (c)2001 by Coleman Barks, from his book of poems, “Winter Sky: New and Selected Poems, 1968-2008,” University of Georgia Press, 2008, and reprinted by permission of Coleman Barks and the publisher. Introduction copyright (c)2009 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.  We do not accept unsolicited poetry manuscripts.

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2 Responses to “Barks’ poems: ‘Brim full of joy’”

1. Mary says:

   September 29, 2009 at 5:41 am

   LikeTheDew: So glad we’re running “American Life in Poetry.” In a previous life I could look forward to these gems in the Sunday paper. No more. Thank you.

   Reply
2. Diane says:

   September 29, 2009 at 9:22 am

   What a lovely, contemporary poem that speaks to all of us who have had children. Learning how to lose is a great skill, and Briny has obviously learned it well.

   Reply

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