Niedecker was born in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and lived in this wilderness area for most of her life. She lived a quiet life far removed from the professional poetry world, where she wrote hundreds of poems remarkable for their loving observation of nature and delicate musicality. Ever increasing in popularity, her finely-honed verse speaks to readers in a delightful, distinctive voice.
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[He Lived—Childhood Summers]
He lived—childhood summers
thru bare feet
then years of money’s lack
and heat
beside the river—out of flood
came his wood, dog,
woman, lost her, daughter—
prologue
to planting trees. He buried carp
beneath the rose
where grass-still
the marsh rail goes.
To bankers on high...
[What horror to awake at night]
What horror to awake at night
and in the dimness see the light.
Time is white
mosquitoes bite
I’ve spent my life on nothing.
The thought that stings. How are you, Nothing,
sitting around with Something’s wife.
Buzz and burn
is all I learn
I’ve spent my life on...
[My mother saw the green tree toad]
My mother saw the green tree toad
on the window sill
her first one
since she was young.
We saw it breathe
and swell up round.
My youth is no sure sign
I’ll find this kind of thing
tho it does sing.
Let’s take it in
I said so grandmother...
[I married]
I married
in the world’s black night
for warmth
if not repose.
At the close—
someone.
I hid with him
from the long range guns.
We lay leg
in the cupboard, head
in closet.
A slit of light
at no bird dawn—
Untaught
I thought
he drank
too much.
I say
I married
and lived unburied.
I thought—