Sponsor
A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Bed of Roses Sonnet Contest

"Consider this a toast my daughter dear"
by Charlie Anderson


(This sonnet is for my daughter, my only child, who will be married this summer. Her name, Cassie Anderson, is spelled out in the first letters of each line.)

Consider this a toast my daughter dear,
A toast, and more, a prayer for wedded bliss.
So soon the day arrives — oh, my, it's near:
So soon you'll drop a name to take on his.

I've watched your eyes watch him: the die is cast.
Endearment fills your heart — my blessing's won;
And his concern for you is bound to last.
No doubt this father's doubts are gone and done.

Dive straight into the flowing stream of years.
Explore life's roads with him, both high and low.
Resolve to share the fears, the smiles, the tears.
Stay strong in bonded love, come joy or woe.

Oh, yes, I bless your choice, my daughter dear.
Now toast and pray with me, the day draws near.




About the Author
Most of all I am a father. I reside in a tiny town (populations — 225 people, 400 or so moose) at the northern tip of Maine where we apparently set a local record for snowfall (nearly 200") this winter. The snowbanks covering my windows had a way of providing atmosphere and appetite for introspection and poetry.



Bed of Roses Love Sonnet Contest Winner

Finalists



The Newsletter from Lake Wobegon

E-MAIL

Sign up here for our weekly e-pistle about what's happening at A Prairie Home Companion! Heck, while you're there, sign up for the daily e-mail from The Writer's Almanac too


LIBERTY

Liberty:A Novel of Lake Wobegon A national holiday in Lake Wobegon is always gaudy and joyful. But what is going on between Clint Bunsen and Miss Liberty?
Everyone is here—Pastor Ingqvist, the Sons of Knute, Sister Arvonne of Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility and her ocarina band, the Norwegian bachelor farmers, Dorothy and the Chatterbox Café, Wally in the Sidetrack Tap—as crowds converge on the little town to celebrate American independence, even as the chairman of the event broods on the great question of the day: Shall we struggle on valiantly here or shall we burst the bonds and find beautiful life in the golden west?



YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT?

English Majors CD Set Scripts and bits from A Prairie Home Companion celebrate the secret society of men and women who possess excellent spelling and punctuation skills. (You know who you are.) Selections include "The Six-Minute Hamlet," a tribute to Emily Dickinson, a Guy Noir adventure that exposes an MFA scam, a riveting "Professional Organization of English Majors" drama, and guests Billy Collins, Robert Bly, Roy Blount Jr., and Calvin Trillin.


  • News/Talk
  • Music
  • Entertainment