Add Another Poet to A Poet At Your Table: Katharine Whitcomb

Katharine WhitcombPoet at Your Table Katharine Whitcomb and I first met through her poetry. Whitcomb won the Floating Bridge Press prize for Lamp of Letters --- a book I completely adore. When I heard her read at her book launch, I knew that this was someone I wanted to befriend. I love how a deep sharing of words can bring people into our lives. It's Katherine's poetry that connected me to her.

Katharine Whitcomb teaches at Central Washington University and is the Coordinator of the English Writing Specialization Program. She is available to visit book groups in Central Washington or in the Seattle area.

For more information on inviting Katharine to your table please write to "poetatyourtable(at)gmail.com  You can also check out our web page right here.





Animal Heaven


As if diving from a dock the dogs leapt off a railroad bed
today over the sunken hayfield. They plunged
into the wake of grass, gold one, black one, and disappeared,
reappeared in the breaking green troughs, at a run.

Now here we are. Our tall bedroom sways;
frigate ship steered by gravity. Your arms reach to soothe
me when I wake shaken from a nightmare, another long chase
to the horizon—the dogs breathe with calm huffs and woofs.
Soft eyes closed, the golden’s paws move like heron’s
wings in the west pasture, undulating muscular bounds.

Through the tall grass heaving with the bosomy wind of June,
sleep lowers us. With garments undone our love eases down
to the valley floor. The dogs swim one before, one
after. All this beauty! in waves, then oblivion.


You can also listen to Katharine Whitcomb read her poem Murder Mystery on KUOW in an interview with fellow poet, Elizabeth Austen.