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28th out of 42 books
—
10 voters
Braided Creek
After Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser had exchanged letters and poems for years, Kooser was diagnosed with cancer. "Ted's poetry became overwhelmingly vivid," Harrison recalls. "Then we decided to correspond in short poems, because that was the essence of what we wanted to say to each other."
"Braided Creek" contains over 300 poems exchanged in this longstanding correspondence....more
"Braided Creek" contains over 300 poems exchanged in this longstanding correspondence....more
Hardcover, 90 pages
Published
July 1st 2003
by Copper Canyon Press
(first published 2003)
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"Under the storyteller’s hat
are many heads, all troubled.
Rowing across the lake
all the dragonflies are screwing.
Stop it. It’s Sunday.
Only today
I heard
the river
within the river.
I want to describe my life in hushed tones
like a TV nature program. Dawn in the north.
His nose stalks the air for newborn coffee.
Nothing to do.
Nowhere to go.
The moth just drowned
in the whiskey glass.
This is heaven.
Let go of the mind, the thousand blue
story fragments we tell ourselves
each day to keep the world underfoot.
If...more
are many heads, all troubled.
Rowing across the lake
all the dragonflies are screwing.
Stop it. It’s Sunday.
Only today
I heard
the river
within the river.
I want to describe my life in hushed tones
like a TV nature program. Dawn in the north.
His nose stalks the air for newborn coffee.
Nothing to do.
Nowhere to go.
The moth just drowned
in the whiskey glass.
This is heaven.
Let go of the mind, the thousand blue
story fragments we tell ourselves
each day to keep the world underfoot.
If...more
1 like · like · see review
view all 4 comments
An easy 5 stars. This is a book I could carry around for a few months. It's certainly not going on my actual shelves any time soon. Two old poets hold forth in short spurts. If you like like haiku, or asian verse, and if you'd like to know how the American idiom can comfortably extend the forms this is the book for you. If you'd like a master class in writing but hate the how-to books, this is for you.
Here's what: this book can teach you how to see, and it can teach you how to think about what...more
Here's what: this book can teach you how to see, and it can teach you how to think about what...more
Comment after first 45 pages.
This is wonderful. I find myself with a huge grin or pausing for introspection on nearly every page. Brilliant idea and lovely in its execution.
----
Definitely 4+.
Two dear friends corresponding via poems, "American Haiku," and aphorisms. I love that there is no ownership of the poems. From the back cover, "When asked about attributions for the individual poems, one of them replied, 'Everyone gets tired of this continuing cult of the personality . . . This book is an a...more
This is wonderful. I find myself with a huge grin or pausing for introspection on nearly every page. Brilliant idea and lovely in its execution.
----
Definitely 4+.
Two dear friends corresponding via poems, "American Haiku," and aphorisms. I love that there is no ownership of the poems. From the back cover, "When asked about attributions for the individual poems, one of them replied, 'Everyone gets tired of this continuing cult of the personality . . . This book is an a...more
Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser wrote poems back and forth to each other as part of their letter writing. This book gathers some of these little aphoristic poems, none more than 4 lines long. It leaves them unattributed, so you do not know who wrote which (though with some, if you're familiar with the poets at all, it's obvious). According to the back cover, they did this because "Everyone gets tired of this continuing cult of the personality . . . This book is an assertion in favor of poetry and ag...more
A friend gave me this book as a gift and I can't thank him enough. It has moved to the top of the list as my all time favorite book of Haiku. Two long time friends (both writers) correspond over the years and eventually their letters become just brief poems to one another. The poems cover a gamut of life experiences and wonderful descriptions of the natural world. The individual poems do not list which writer did them as they state on the back of the book "Everyone gets tired of this continuing...more
Jan 23, 2008
Deb
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people in the mood for short beautiful snippets
Recommended to Deb by:
the front desk secretary, Barbara
I'm reluctant to say I'm done with this book and I'll probably end up purchasing it. Most of the poems are three lines written back and forth on postcards, semi-haikus of wisdom, wit and the bittersweetness of life.
Some favorites:
When she left me
I stood out in the thunderstorm,
hoping to be destroyed by lightning.
It missed, first left, then right.
I grow older.
I still like women, but mostly
I like Mexican food.
The face you look out of
is never the face
your lover looks into.
Straining on the toilet
we...more
Some favorites:
When she left me
I stood out in the thunderstorm,
hoping to be destroyed by lightning.
It missed, first left, then right.
I grow older.
I still like women, but mostly
I like Mexican food.
The face you look out of
is never the face
your lover looks into.
Straining on the toilet
we...more
"There are mornings when everything brims with promise even my empty cup." Enjoyed this conversation immensely. I think communicating is like playing catch. Clearly these two know how to write poetry and how to play catch. The fact that you don't know through out the book who wrote which poem is also wonderful. In true conversation it is not who said what, but what is said together. It's a quick read, enjoyable, with many wonderful short lines. I highly recommend this poetry conversation.
A short, simple book of aphorisms and small poems that Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser wrote to one another when Kooser was ill. They don't attribute specific lines to one another.
Some lines made me laugh out loud, some were sentimental, some reminded you of the joys and burdens of the mundane, and a handful were on aging. Very little was inspiring or awed me with beauty, but I don't think those were the purpose of this book.
A quick, easy, enjoyable read.
Some lines made me laugh out loud, some were sentimental, some reminded you of the joys and burdens of the mundane, and a handful were on aging. Very little was inspiring or awed me with beauty, but I don't think those were the purpose of this book.
A quick, easy, enjoyable read.
this is a collaboration between Harrison and Ted Kooser, and whether or not you like the works of either of these authors, "Creek" is a kind of miracle. None of the brief poems are attributed to either man; they say that the poems were truly jointly constructed. A casual vivid elegance graces the book, and in the poems time is real.
My husband gave me this book, he loves Jim Harrison and I love Ted Kooser. For the most part I can readily tell one voice from the other in this series of poetic conversations, though who wrote which piece is never stated.
Lovely work.
Lovely work.
Kooser and Harrison trade off insightful and, in some cases, delightful short poems in this shared collection. Not as prosaic as Harrison's poems can be, or as reserved as Kooser can be on his own. This is a great contemporary collection for fans of haiku.
I had not read any of Kooser's work before, but have read a bit of Harrison. (and met him) This is one of my favorite poetic compilations, by composition, visualizations, and humor.
Along with Winter Morning Walks, these are two books I read every year around this time of year. I couldn't do without them.
A well written little book of easy to read poetry. Both terse and witty this is a great conversation between poets.
I met Ted Kooser at the Dodge Poetry festival.I wish there were more of these types of books and poetic interactions
Some authors write in such a way that even with four lines of a poem, I'm taken to vividly see and experience some place I had not planned on going. This small book is one four-liner after another and for me, a constant passport punching from farm life to listening to an aging man express a somber freedom he's starting to realize as he's finally let go of the allures of notoriety.
I want to write like these guys do. I want to learn to tell stories like they do, that with four short lines, the pe...more
I want to write like these guys do. I want to learn to tell stories like they do, that with four short lines, the pe...more
A simply wonderful collection of haiku. This is an example, rare though it is, of the power and grace of American haiku.
This is one of my all-time favorite poetry books and the inspiration for a collaboration of my own.
I love the concept of this book. The poems are short and lyrical.
A conversation in haiku -- need I say more? Love it :)
One to savor - not read directly through.
Can anyone really be finished reading this book? I don't think so. What a fantastic example of what poetry does but it a beautifully condensed form.
I'm a little on the fence with this book. It's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it's an enjoyable quick read. Looked at in terms of something that will make you want to write, it does a fine job. It reminds you that poetry is everywhere and is not all that hard or difficult but can be a few lines scribbled between friends. My favorite mini poem in here was about topographic maps being fingerprints of God.
From the back of the book: "Longtime friends, Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser always exchanged poems in their letter writing. After Kooser was diagnosed with cancer several years ago, Harrison found that his friend's poetry became "overwhelmingly vivid," and they began a correspondence comprised entirely of breif poems, "because that was the essence of what we wanted to say to each other."
Dozens of honest little bites of wisdom shared between two masters of their craft.
I really like the concept of this book...two male friends who wrote poems instead of letters to each other to describe things in their lives. Each poem is only 3 lines and, while some of them seem simple, others are really powerful. I read this in one night and it made me stop to about the poems I could write daily in my life.
Jan 07, 2013
Mills College Library
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
december-2012,
weekly-01-07-2013
811.54 K829b 2003
A look at a correspondence between two great poets. The book is snippets of their poetry that captures their daily lives and concerns. Beautiful reading and great for people who want to read poetry but are daunted by long and "complicated" poems. It works as a conversation and reads like a collection of haiku.
A sampling:
"Under the storyteller's hat
are many heads, all troubled.
Republicans think that all over the world
darker-skinned people are having more fun
than they are. It's largely true.
Old friend,
perhaps we work too hard
at being remembered."
"Under the storyteller's hat
are many heads, all troubled.
Republicans think that all over the world
darker-skinned people are having more fun
than they are. It's largely true.
Old friend,
perhaps we work too hard
at being remembered."
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Jim Harrison was born in Grayling, Michigan, to Winfield Sprague Harrison, a county agricultural agent, and Norma Olivia (Wahlgren) Harrison, both avid readers. He married Linda King in 1959 with whom he has two daughters.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
His awards include National Academy of Arts grants...more
More about Jim Harrison...
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
His awards include National Academy of Arts grants...more
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“When she left me
I stood out in the thunderstorm,
hoping to be destroyed by lightning.
It missed, first left, then right.”
—
12 people liked it
More quotes…
I stood out in the thunderstorm,
hoping to be destroyed by lightning.
It missed, first left, then right.”
