Abandoned Farmhouse

"So This is Nebraska" by Ted Kooser (1980)

“So This is Nebraska” appeared in Sure Signs and shares with “Abandoned Farmhouse” a clear sense of place. It, too, speaks through details, but this time the tone is celebratory. Unlike the empty farmhouse’s stasis, this poem has both movement and an active human presence. The gravel road “rides with a slow gallop / over the fields” (Lines 1-2). The aging barns are “dear old ladies” (Line 5) hiding “broken tractors under their skirts” (Line 8). Nebraska is beautiful and warm—a place where “You feel like stopping the car / and dancing around on the road” (Lines 25-26). It’s an interesting comparison that ultimately creates a richer understanding of Kooser’s milieu.

"The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams (1938)

The tightly focused poem features a single image that pushes the reader to think about the meaning and emotion held in things. Physical objects can stabilize both intellect and emotion and allow them to reach greater depths. “Abandoned Farmhouse” has a similar emphasis on detail and the feeling of steadfast practicality. Wheelbarrows, chickens, jars of preserves, and scattered toys are vital to their settings and speak volumes about the lives tied to them. Williams’s poetry was an early and lasting influence on Kooser’s work.

"Out, Out" by Robert Frost (1916)

“Out, Out” tells a tale of tragedy in a rural setting. The personification of the buzz saw which “snarled and rattled” (Line 1) and “seemed to leap” (Line 16) is more menacing and far less sympathetic than the objects at the abandoned farmhouse, but both poems highlight the hardships of life—even for children.

"Cat Moving Kittens" by Austin Smith (2018)

“Cat Moving Kittens” is a short lyrical poem by a fellow Midwesterner. Smith is an Illinois poet. This poem shares a discovery of a litter of kittens under a straw bale and the recognition of what their mother’s inevitable response has to be. She will move her babies away from the dangers of scrutiny. The poem explores the hard choices of parenting, especially for those in vulnerable positions. “Cat Moving Kittens” appeared in Kooser’s “American Life in Poetry,” where he introduced it by saying Smith is “an acute observer of the world at hand.” It’s a trait both poets share.

"Red Stilts" by Ted Kooser (2020)

“Red Stilts” is the work of a mature poet who has fulfilled the promise shown in “Abandoned Farmhouse.” It’s a vivid slice of life—a story of the red stilts the speaker made 70 years ago and the journey that brought him to the present. It is filled with small details: the “saggy, ancient Adirondack chair / no longer good for much but holding hoes” (Lines 7-8), “the summer in my hair” (Line 15), and the sticky, red painted stilts themselves. The humble objects point to larger truths of existence—a consistent feature of Kooser’s poetry.