Newsletter sign up

Be the first to know when new American Life in Poetry columns are live.

Column 558

Weather Man

Intro by Ted Kooser
11.29.2015

I’m well into my sev­en­ties, and I warm to sim­ple, peace­ful scenes. Here’s a fine love poem by Patri­cia Traxler, a Kansas poet, whose newest book, Nam­ing the Fires, will be out in ear­ly 2016.

Weather Man

When it snows, he stands
at the back door or wanders
around the house to each
window in turn and
watches the weather
like a lover. O farm boy,
I waited years
for you to look at me
that way. Now we’re old
enough to stop waiting
for random looks or touches
or words, so I find myself
watching you watching
the weather, and we wait
together to discover
whatever the sky might bring.
 

Share this column

Disclaimer

We do not accept unsolicited submissions

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 Patricia Traxler, “Weather Man.” Poem reprinted by permission of Patricia Traxler. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.