Language is a magic bowl that can hold all we imagine. Here in five words, carefully chosen by Jennifer Hambrick of Ohio, are the front and back of the galaxy, acorns underfoot and stars high above, and, magically, everything else in between. Her most recent book is Unscathed from NightBallet Press.

starry night
acorns popping
underfoot

American Life in Poetry is made possible by the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2020 by Jennifer Hambrick, 'starry night,' from Modern Haiku (2020). Poem reprinted by permission of Jennifer Hambrick and the publisher. Introduction copyright @2020 by the Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-06.