Newsletter sign up

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

Column 068

They Sit Together on the Porch

Intro by Ted Kooser
07.19.2006

Here is a mar­velous lit­tle poem about a long mar­riage by the Ken­tucky poet, Wen­dell Berry. It’s about a cou­ple resigned to and com­fort­able with their rou­tines. It is writ­ten in lan­guage as clear and sim­ple as its sub­ject. As close togeth­er as these two peo­ple have grown, as much alike as they have become, there is always the chance of the one, unpre­dictable, small moment of inde­pen­dence. Who will be the first to say goodnight?

They Sit Together on the Porch

They sit together on the porch, the dark
Almost fallen, the house behind them dark.
Their supper done with, they have washed and dried
The dishes–only two plates now, two glasses,
Two knives, two forks, two spoons–small work for two.
She sits with her hands folded in her lap,
At rest. He smokes his pipe. They do not speak,
And when they speak at last it is to say
What each one knows the other knows. They have
One mind between them, now, that finally
For all its knowing will not exactly know
Which one goes first through the dark doorway, bidding
Goodnight, and which sits on a while alone.

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. From "A Timbered Choir", by Wendell Berry. Copyright © 1998. Published and reprinted by arrangement with Counterpoint Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group (www.perseusbooks.com). All rights reserved. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.