Friday, March 22, 2013

Poetry Friday: Great Things Have Happened



Great Things Have Happened
by Alden Nowlan


We were talking about the great things
that have happened in our lifetimes;
and I said, "Oh, I suppose the moon landing
was the greatest thing that has happened
in my time." But, of course, we were all lying.
The truth is the moon landing didn't mean
one-tenth as much to me as one night in 1963
when we lived in a three-room flat in what once had been
the mansion of some Victorian merchant prince
(our kitchen had been a clothes closet, I'm sure),
on a street where by now nobody lived
who could afford to live anywhere else.
That night, the three of us, Claudine, Johnnie and me,

 ...

(Read the rest here, at The Writer's Almanac.)


Greg has the round up at Gotta Book.

2 comments:

Ruth said...

I love this poem. I've read it with my seventh graders a few times. I always have them reflect on what "great things" may have happened in their lives that others might respond to with "Is that all?" So many wonderful details.

love2learnmom said...

I like it! :)