M A R G I E  The American Journal of Poetry     www.margiereview.com

Published Annually in the Fall                                     MARGIE  P. O. BOX 250, CHESTERFIELD, MO 63006-0250

"Just put on your best face," Mother would say,

telling me how to get on in the world,

and I've knotted its straps so many mornings

that I'm used to the heat, the stickiness,

the intractable stiffness around the mouth.

The fabric's worn thin, with a few small patches,

and it's spotted with stains, and today

at the mirror I could almost see through it

into that other face, the one I started with

so many years ago, not the best face

but my own small fearful kisser, peering out,

hoping for someone to show it the way.

TED KOOSER is a retired life insurance company executive who lives in rural Nebraska.  His most recent book, a memoir entitled Local Wonders; Seasons in the Bohemian Alps, has just been published by University of Nebraska Press.  Forthcoming next spring from Copper Canyon Press is Braided Creek, a collaboration in poetry with Jim Harrison.