Poet of the week - Rita Dove

We couldn't resist posting one of the pieces from her brand-new book, American Smooth. Here goes:

Fox Trot Fridays
Rita Dove

Thank the stars there's a day
each week to tuck in

the grief, lift your pearls, and
stride brush stride

quick-quick with a
heel-ball-toe. Smooth

as Nat King Cole's
slow satin smile,

easy as taking
one day at a time:

one man and
one woman,

rib to rib,
with no heartbreak in sight—

just the sweep of Paradise
and the space of a song

to count all the wonders in it.

From American Smooth, copyright © 2004 by Rita Dove. Published by W. W. Norton & Company. All rights reserved.

For more on Rita Dove, visit Poetry Daily; also Rita Dove's home page.