“Putting in Footings” by Clemens Starck (1931-2024)

November 7, 2025

“Putting in Footings” by Clemens Starck (1931-2024)

read by Sher Schwartz Note: A listener in Mexico let me know I made an error in referring to University of Oregon in Corvallis when it should have been Oregon State University in Corvallis as being the place Starck worked in maintenance for over 20 years. Thanks Reed Stewart for the heads up.

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Clem Starck

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Sher Schwartz

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3 responses to ““Putting in Footings” by Clemens Starck (1931-2024)”

Sher Schwartz

November 7, 2025 at 2:50 pm

Note: A listener in Mexico let me know I made an error in referring to University of Oregon in Corvallis when it should have been Oregon State University in Corvallis as being the place Starck worked in maintenance for over 20 years. Thanks Reed Stewart for the heads up.

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Sher Schwartz

November 8, 2025 at 10:47 am

A listener from the Oregon Coast: I do like this poem. the writer revealing experiences and revealing feeling — the last line about angels slowly shaking their heads….

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tlapera5411

November 8, 2025 at 2:44 pm

After listening twice, I interpret the angels as shaking their heads in amazement. Of course it’s also possible to shake heads as a dismissive gesture but there’s something about the amazement interpretation that fits, for me, with the respect for the work aspect of this poem.

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About Me

“I’m a retired Humanities professor, published essayist, poet, painter, singer, and old-time fiddle musician living on an historic two-hundred-acre farm in Eastern Oregon. I plant gardens for pollinators and revel in insects, bird dogs, donkeys, goats, cats, and American fantail and roller pigeons. My lyric landscapes are oak savannah, prairie, and riparian. Writing poetry gives me a way to express and question the rhythms I hear. My chapbook The Beautiful One’s Ark (2024) is available through The Poetry Box and online bookstores. Sher Poetry celebrates poetry as an oral language art. Each week I’ll share a poem from some of my work or from that of other poets who I love to hear.