American Life in Poetry #6: Barton Sutter.

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Rhyme has a way of lightening the spirit of a poem, and in this instance, the plural, spirits, is the appropriate word choice. Lots of readers can relate to "Sober Song," which originally appeared in North Dakota Quarterly. Barton Sutter is a Minnesota poet, essayist, and fiction writer who has won awards in all three genres.


Sober Song

Farewell to the starlight in whiskey,
So long to the sunshine in beer.
The booze made me cocky and frisky
But worried the man in the mirror.
Goodnight to the moonlight in brandy,
Adieu to the warmth of the wine.
I think I can finally stand me
Without a glass or a stein.
Bye-bye to the balm in the vodka,
Ta-ta to the menthol in gin.
I'm trying to do what I ought to,
Rejecting that snake medicine.
I won't miss the blackouts and vomit,
The accidents and regret.
If I can stay off the rotgut,
There might be a chance for me yet.
So so long to God in a bottle,
To the lies of rum and vermouth.
Let me slake my thirst with water
And the sweet, transparent truth.



Reprinted from "Farewell to the Starlight in Whiskey," Rochester: BOA Editions, 2004, by permission of the author. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress and the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. This column does not accept unsolicited poetry.



Also at Virtual Grub Street by/about Ted Kooser:

• American Gothic (a review of Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser. Copper Canyon Press, 2004);
• Ted Kooser and the American Life in Poetry column;
• American Life in Poetry #1: David Allan Evans;
• American Life in Poetry #2: Jonathan Greene;
• American Life in Poetry #3: Marnie Walsh;
• American Life in Poetry #4: Ruth Stone;
• American Life in Poetry #5: David Baker;
• American Life in Poetry #7: Leonard Nathan;
• American Life in Poetry #8: Karma Larsen;
• American Life in Poetry #9: James Doyle;
• American Life in Poetry #10: Marge Piercy;
• American Life in Poetry #11: David Wagoner;
• American Life in Poetry #12: Andrei Guruianu;
• American Life in Poetry #13: Kevin Griffith;
• American Life in Poetry #14: Georgiana Cohen;
• American Life in Poetry #15: Janet McCann;
• American Life in Poetry #16: Lisel Mueller;
• American Life in Poetry #17: Wendell Berry;
• American Life in Poetry #18: Dan Gerber;
• American Life in Poetry #19: Shirley Buettner;
• American Life in Poetry #20: Jane Hirshfield;
• American Life in Poetry #21: Karin Gottshall;
• American Life in Poetry #22: Jean L. Connor;
• American Life in Poetry #23: E. G. Burrows;
• American Life in Poetry #24: Martin Walls;
• American Life in Poetry #25: Rodney Torreson;
• American Life in Poetry #26: Claudia Emerson;
• American Life in Poetry #27: Angela Shaw.