A New-to-Me Poet

Having first heard of poet David Budbill from author Toni Bernhard, I tracked down some of his poetry and am really inspired by his verses, which combine his musings on life in rural Vermont with his study of ancient Chinese poetry.  You can hear his verses being read over at Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac.  I'm reading his latest, Happy Life, while I wait for his two previous books to arrive.  The following reminds me of our family in the last two years (and that traditional Chinese tale about good luck-bad luck):

"A Day Off"
It's been the usual frantic spring:
     prune the apple trees, till the gardens,
turn the compost, work on the new shed,
     do the first mowings, plant
the early vegetables, set out the hardy seedlings:
     one thing after another,
day after day, no time for flutes or books,
     only time to be outdoors and
nothing but work, work, work,
      work, work, work,

until, that is, I hurt my foot and now
      I'm so lame I can barely stand,
which means, I have to spend the day in bed
     with tea, the history of
Sung dynasty poetry and the life of Yang Wan-li--
     showing once again how
misfortune
     sometimes brings its opposite.