Carl Sennhenn, Oklahoma Poet Laureate 2001 to 2003, will read from Travels Through Enchanted Woods, for which he recently won the Oklahoma Book Award.  Light refreshments will be served at the reading, which begins at 2:00 Sunday at the Norman Depot, 200 South Jones Avenue.  There is no admission charge.

Sennhenn, a long time Norman resident, is Professor of English and Humanities at Rose State College, where he is also Coordinator of the Honors Program.

2004 Oklahoma Book Award finalist, Judith Tate O’Brien says “To enter this collection is to join poet Carl Sennhenn on a pilgrimage through time and tough questions.  ‘Beware not the dense wood,’ he advises readers, ‘but its sunny absence/the road too smooth.’ Despite this challenge, these poems hold splashes of humor, like his descriptions of galumphing (marvelous verb), shoeless, around a room waging war with a wasp.”  

“Carl’s poetry is beautifully crafted, filled with memories of times past, tender moments filled with  meaning, life’s truths subtly conveyed.” says Nancy McClellan, PAS Director.  He has hosted  Second Sunday Poetry Readings since their inception, bringing many outstanding poets to the series.  Hearing him read will be a special treat.”

OPEN WINDOWS

In air-conditioned triumph now
that we’ve tamed summer
we think of those seasons
not too long ago when
we floated on warm
scent of mimosas
in June.

Then
early mornings when
it was cool and still
very dark
our wrinkled sheets cooled
somewhat, and the sounds of
mourning doves
in the cedars recalled
to us lost dreams.

Carl Sennhenn