I’m fond of poems about weather, and I especially like this poem by Todd Davis for the way it looks at how fog affects whatever is within and beneath it.

Veil

In this low place between mountains

fog settles with the dark of evening.

Every year it takes some of those

we love — a car full of teenagers

on the way home from a dance, or

a father on his way to the paper mill,

nightshift the only opening.

Each morning, up on the ridge,

the sun lifts this veil, sees what night

has accomplished. The water on our window-

screens disappears slowly, gradually,

like grief. The heat of the day carries water

from the river back up into the sky,

and where the fog is heaviest and stays

longest, you’ll see the lines it leaves

on trees, the flowers that grow

the fullest.

Ted Kooser was US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. He is a professor in the English Department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He lives on an acreage near the village of Garland, Nebraska, with his wife Kathleen Rutledge, the editor of the Lincoln Journal Star.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2007 by Todd Davis from his most recent book of poems, The Least of These, Michigan State University Press, 2010. Reprinted by permission of Todd Davis and the publisher. Poem first appeared in Albatross, No. 18, 2007. Introduction copyright ©2010 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 manuscripts.

American Life in Poetry ©2006 The Poetry Foundation

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This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.

The film will be shown at the Clearlake United Methodist Church at 14521 Pearl Ave in Clearlake, one block from Mullen.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the film starts at 6 p.m.

One of the strangest facts in this film is that not one elected representative read the Patriot Act before voting to pass it. Not one.

The reason is even more strange: A “substitute” Patriot Act was printed at 3:45 a.m. on the morning of the scheduled vote, replaced the hundreds-of-pages-long original Patriot Act bill with no notice to our representatives – and was passed in a switcheroo.

Those familiar with Second Sunday Cinema know that we avoid “conspiracy theory” films. There are facts enough to go around – and this alarming film is full of facts, with lawyers and law professors galore supporting the information that we citizens have lost crucial Constitutional rights. (But we're too busy trying to feed our families and save our homes to do much.)

We can be arrested and imprisoned now without cause or warrant, without knowing the accusations, the accuser, and – without a trial – be imprisoned for life. Our rights of Habeus Corpus and Posse Commitatus are suspended. It goes on and on.

To its credit, the film ends by letting us know what we can do to reclaim our country. And if you disagree with the premise of the film, do come anyway. There is always time for civil discourse following the screening.

Second Sunday Cinema shows well-made and important documentaries for free on the second Sunday of every month.

For more information call 707-279-2957.

Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. Photo by UNL Publications and Photography.

It’s a rare occasion when I find dozens of poems by just one poet that I’d like to share with you, but Joyce Sutphen, who lives in Minnesota, is someone who writes that well, with that kind of appeal. Here is just one example. How many of us have marveled at how well our parents have succeeded at a long marriage?

The Exam

It is mid-October. The trees are in

their autumnal glory (red, yellow-green,

orange) outside the classroom where students

take the mid-term, sniffling softly as if

identifying lines from Blake or Keats

was such sweet sorrow, summoned up in words

they never saw before. I am thinking

of my parents, of the six decades they’ve

been together, of the thirty thousand

meals they’ve eaten in the kitchen, of the

more than twenty thousand nights they’ve slept

under the same roof. I am wondering

who could have fashioned the test that would have

predicted this success? Who could have known?

Ted Kooser was US Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. He is a professor in the English Department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He lives on an acreage near the village of Garland, Nebraska, with his wife Kathleen Rutledge, the editor of the Lincoln Journal Star.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2010 by Joyce Sutphen, whose most recent book of poetry is First Words, Red Dragonfly Press, 2010. Poem reprinted by permission of Joyce Sutphen. Introduction copyright ©2010 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 manuscripts.

As a role model, however, princess-hood is a decidedly mixed bag. Who doesn’t want their little girl to enjoy princess-league perks and privileges? On the other hand, who wants their daughters to think that the way to achieve this is by marrying into it or by inheriting it from your father?

That’s the conundrum that Shirin Yim Bridges beautifully navigates in her new series, “The Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Real Princesses.”

Bridges will give a reading and presentation at Catfish Books on 11^th Street in Lakeport from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18.

“Most of my writing is about girls who manage to do what few people think is possible,” explained Bridges, the award-winning children’s author of Ruby’s Wish and The Umbrella Queen. “Now my focus is on real princesses throughout history who’ve accomplished incredible things in their own right. These stories blend messages of female empowerment with the romance and enchantment surrounding princesses.”

The series, aimed at girls ages 9 through 13, includes histories of six princesses: Hatshepsut of Egypt, Artemisia of Caria, Sorghaghtani of Mongolia, Qutlugh Terkan Khatun of Kirman, Isabella of Castile, and Nur Jahan of India.

The books are richly illustrated with photographs and maps, and lovely pen-and-watercolor paintings by Albert Nguyen, whose art helps to bring the stories of these fascinating girls vividly to life.

“The Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Real Princesses” brings Shirin Bridges’ lyrical storytelling to some of the most inspiring – and little known – tales in history. They’re the first offerings from Goosebottom Books, Bridges’ fledgling new press.

“I’m a big believer in fun non-fiction for girls of this age. These princesses are incredible role models of empowerment. Their stories are fascinating in their own right, but also hold powerful lessons for children – lessons that we aim to sneak through in a fun and palatable way. We call it ‘stealth education.’”

“The fascination with princesses seems innate in little girls,” says Bridges, whose multi-cultural storytelling reflects her years living all over the globe. “But when girls reach a certain age they want a little more meat. We believe this series is the perfect move on from Disney princesses and fairy tales.”

“The Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Real Princesses” is designed to whet their appetites for learning through reading, well into the future. Work has already begun on Goosebottom’s second series, The Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Dastardly Dames, which will include volumes by six contributing authors.