The Academy of American Poets
Home | View Cart | Log In 
Subscribe | More Info 
Find a Poet or Poem
Advanced Search >
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ron Padgett
Ron Padgett
Ron Padgett was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1942. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including You Never Know, Bean Spasms (with Ted Berrigan), and Poems I Guess I Wrote...
More >
Adopt a Poet | Add to Notebook | E-mail to Friend | Print
Poet as Immortal Bird  
by Ron Padgett
Get Flash Player

A second ago my heart thump went
and I thought, "This would be a bad time
to have a heart attack and die, in the
middle of a poem," then took comfort
in the idea that no one I have ever heard 
of has ever died in the middle of writing 
a poem, just as birds never die in mid-flight.
I think.



From You Never Know by Ron Padgett. Copyright © 2001 by Ron Padgett. Published by Coffee House Press. Used by permission of the publisher.


Audio Clip
January 8, 2008
The Academy Offices
From the Academy of American Poets
Larger TypeLarger Type | Home | Help | Contact Us | Privacy Policy Copyright © 1997 - 2008 by The Academy of American Poets.