Flying at Night -- Ted Kooser

Guest poem sent in by Sarah Korah

My favourite Ted Kooser poem is already on Minstrels [Poem #1667]. Here's
another nice poem:

(Poem #1796) Flying at Night Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations. Five billion miles away, a galaxy dies like a snowflake falling on water. Below us, some farmer, feeling the chill of that distant death, snaps on his yard light, drawing his sheds and barn back into the little system of his care. All night, the cities, like shimmering novas, tug with bright streets at lonely lights like his. -- Ted Kooser

A galaxy dies.. Not with a bang, and not with a whimper.. but like a
snowflake falling on water.  And far away, a nameless shepherd, feeling the
sudden nip in the air, snaps on his porch light - bringing all that is
precious into the warmth of his care.

There's something very comforting about that yard light. It reminds me of
hot chocolate fondue.. and Christmas at home. And doesn't the image of death
as a snowflake falling on water sound more hopeful, and meaningful, than the
usual "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust" ?

Sarah Korah

Selecting A Reader -- Ted Kooser

Guest poem sent in by Rukmini Kumar

(Poem #1666) Selecting A Reader First, I would have her be beautiful, and walking carefully up on my poetry at the loneliest moment of an afternoon, her hair still damp at the neck from washing it. She should be wearing a raincoat, an old one, dirty from not having money enough for the cleaners. She will take out her glasses, and there in the bookstore, she will thumb over my poems, then put the book back up on its shelf. She will say to herself, "For that kind of money, I can get my raincoat cleaned." And she will. -- Ted Kooser

I heard Ted Kooser interviewed on the show Fresh Air on NPR. Ted Kooser is
America's first poet laureate from the great plains (He was born in Iowa and
lived in Nebraska,check [broken link] http://www.tedkooser.com/about.html). I loved this poem
for its simple sensousness combined with an unaffected practicality
(Interestingly, Kooser was an insurance representative for most of his
professional life).

Rukmini Kumar.

[Martin adds]

I was enjoying this poem in a lazy sort of way until I came to the ending,
which jolted me awake, metaphorically speaking, and put this poem firmly on my
"highly memorable" list. Perhaps I am overly enamoured with endings
(particularly ones that are both powerful and unexpected), but in my opinion,
they have a disproportionately large impact on the reader, and can easily be
responsible for the net effect of the poem. This is not to say that I did not
appreciate the rest of the poem, but it was definitely the last two lines that
made it for me.

martin

[Links]

Repeating the link to the biography:
 [broken link] http://www.tedkooser.com/about.html