Chronicling 'A familiar daily struggle'

 

“If someone is alone reading my poems, I hope it would be like reading someone's notebook. A record. Of a place, beauty, difficulty. A familiar daily struggle.” – Fanny Howe

Born in Buffalo, NY on Oct. 15, 1940, Howe was awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize by the Poetry Foundation “For lifetime accomplishments that warrant extraordinary recognition.”  One of America’s most widely read poets, Howe also had a distinguished record as an essayist and novelist and had more than 50 books published.   Her final book, released earlier this year following her death in 2025, is the poetry collection This Poor Book.  For Saturday’s Poem, here is Howe’s,

                                    Footsteps

I have never arrived
into a new life yet.

Have you?

Do you find the squeak
of boots on snow

excruciating?

Have you heard people
say, It wasn't me,

when they accomplished
a great feat?

I have, often.
But rarely.

•

Possibility
is one of the elements.
It keeps things going.

The ferry
with its ratty engine
and exactitude at chugging
into blocks and chains.

Returning as ever
to mother's house
under a salty rain.

Slave up, slave down.