Catching the Rain

By William J. Karnowski

Bill Karnowski grew up in rural Jackson County located on the north end of the Flint Hills of Kansas. He and his thirteen brothers and sisters spent their childhoods on the Hoot Owl Hollow Ranch. His poetry has its roots as deep as the big bluestem grass that make up the last remaining expanses of the Tallgrass prairie. The Prairie Chickens still boom on early spring mornings. He will share his language of this land.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 27, 2007
• ISBN: 9780595896028

William J. Karnowski

William J. Karnowski is a Flint Hills Kansas poet and the author of four books; Pushing the Chain, Painting the Train, Catching the Rain, and Dispensation published by iuniverse, and two chapbooks; The Hills of Laclede, and Hardtails and Highways. He has 90 poems published in the Topeka Capital Journal's Kansas Plus. He is published in the Midwest Quarterly, Kansas Voices, Kansas Authors Club journals, and online websites. William sponsors and judges the Karnowski Youth Poetry Contest for the Kansas Authors Club and is currently that organization's State President. Bill is a lifelong outdoorsman and enjoys traveling with his wife Sue. They have traveled throughout the USA and the Middle East. Bill and Sue enjoy tent camping and exploring the National Parks. They have three grown children; Kathy, Sandi, and Adam, and seven grandchildren; Andrew, William, Emma, Gracie, Ellianna, Darbi, and Kolton. His interests include building and riding motorcycles, building and flying his powered parachute, rifle marksmanship, and building and driving custom sports cars. Bill and Sue live at Laclede, Kansas on a 80 acre hay meadow in the middle of Pottawatomie County, Kansas.

Book preview

Copyright © 2007 by William J. Karnowski

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any

means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written

permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in

critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse

2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100

Lincoln, NE 68512

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views

of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-0-595-45287-3 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-595-89629-5 (cloth)

ISBN: 978-0-595-89602-8 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

Salt

Birds

Vee Twin

Journeys

Morning in the Black Hills

Lyrics to Some Song

Pictures

Hemi-demi-semi-quaver

(one sixty-fourth note)

Missing

The Window Guy

Bills and Bookstores

Esses

It

The Fish Bowl

The Sounds of Sabers Rattling

Blue

The Trickster

The Pilgrimage

Some Say

Anthology

The Well of the Mourning Women

Wind Chime

Bagpipes and Bugles

The Sea

I Just Got Home

Warmth

Charlie’s Lesson

Morning at the Hotel Del Coronado

The Smell of Sunrise

For Now,

I’m Glad She Just Holds Me Close

The Backward Walking K

Angel in the Orange Grove

Tending

Forever is Forever

Wild Strawberries

Desecrated Blossom

Billy

Walnut and Winchester

Catching the Rain

Two Cowboys

The Doe

Sidewinder Sonant

The Birthday Present

Flat Water

Past Magic

We

Yahweh

Crossing Over

Cincodecava

Flywheels

Glory

Hope Two

Bitten

Atlantis

The Rest

Flowers

Balance

Someone Says

Valley Poetry

(On Sophomore Love)

Sand

Blue Planet

O Great Spirit

Always of This Light

Bodies of Knowledge

Bread, Bright, and Blue

The Agony of Jesus

Ocean Drive

Hangin ‘Round

Hobos and Heroes

I Cry

Of Being

Red Moon

Two

Of This I Am Not Dreaming

The Critic

Poets

Momentum

The Trail to Oregon

Home

Jealousy

Morels

Open

Conversation

Freedom

Jacob’s Matter

On My Way

Close

Untitled

Comfort

Prayer

The Fool’s Proof

June Bug

Sunlight

Souls

Writing

Horsepower

The Rooster

Making the Salad

Tales of the American Holocaust

Leaning

Rhythms

My First Memory

God’s Gift

Of Seven Years

This is dedicated to Louise Frances Blanchat Karnowski, my mother and the first

poet who caught my ear. Three of her poems are included in this book.

Special thanks to Sue Karnowski, my wife and muse.

Thanks to Karen Sells Brown for her editing.

Introduction

This is my night job,

Incubating dinosaur eggs.

It may be too late.

Frustrated,

Here I am at once

Trying to resuscitate the withering

Marriage of Clarity of Vision

To Rhyme and Meter.

Shouldn’t I

Occasionally

Take a token walk of exploration

Into the question of why

This art is dying?

I will spend the night

Meandering through this nesting site,

Hoping to survive

Without loss of life, limb,

Or, worse still, spirit, until dawn.

Here they are,

Just hatched,

Breathing,

Crawling on all fours,

Singing, beneath the canopy of

A thousand shades of green.

William J. Karnowski

Salt

Sometimes we are like

This pet raccoon

When given

Fresh popcorn

We are compelled

To take it