Endowed in perpetuity by the Glenna Luschei Fund for Excellence

Mother's Paths

Mother's Paths

Ruby Zagoren

The same paths were walked each day
From house to barn
From house to pump,
The full pail sloshing.
Summers, the garden path was there
To sandy loam,
The moist dark brown
Clung to shoes and tracked the floors.
The paths drew her pattern;
Crisscrossed the farm
And bound the family.
The paths wore deep;
The grass gave up.

Prairie Schooner, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Spring 1966), p. 81

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Ruby Zagoren (1923-1974) published a poem in The Courant at age 16. She graduated in 1943 from Connecticut College in New London and went on to publish three books of poetry, New England Sampler, Israel My Israel, and Three Generations, along with the book Venture For Freedom: The True Story of an African Yankee. She died at age 51, less than a year after she was recognized in Who’s Who of American Women.

Author /// Comment

Zagoren’s home dates back to her mother’s emigration from the Baltic state of Lithuana to America in search of education and opportunity for herself and her four children. Zagoren’s poetry and prose helped fulfill her mother’s dreams for her children.

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