An Intro to Ted Kooser

LimeyDawg · Jan 28, 2008

I put Kooser in here because he was Poet Laureate of the U.S., and his book "The Poetry Home Repair Manual" is a brilliant work for anybody who enjoys poetry and wants to get better at it. Plus, out of all the folks here, Kooser is still living so it's possible there's more to come. (Come on Ted, get writing). Here, see how Kooser builds up to the climax of the poem, and how he masterfully holds your attention through to the end.

Awaiting permission to use
After Years

LimeyDawg · Jan 28, 2008

Folks,
It was pointed out to me that the use of the poet's work here might (I emphasize might) be copyright infringement. I think it's fair use, but for the sake of argument and to keep AW on the up and up, I'd ask that you google the title/s I've included and read the poems. Then comment here. Sorry for asking you to jump through hoops.

After Years

(It's good, trust me)

LimeyDawg · Feb 11, 2008

Disappointing, to say the least. I was hoping to introduce some of Ted Kooser's work here, but I'm not willing to pay for it. Damned shame, too.

Dear Mark,

Permission is granted for you to include "After Years" from THE POETRY HOME REPAIR MANUAL on your "Absolute Write" website. The fee is $100 for a 2-year posting. The poem must be removed from your website on or before February 11, 2010. This permission does not include license for posting on the world-wide web or the internet. This permission is limited to a password protected website for acess by paid subscribers for your on-line courses, downloads disabled. Please use the following credit line: From THE POETRY HOME REPAIR MANUAL: PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR BEGINNING POETS by Ted Kooser by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. © 2005 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska.

The attachment is an invoice/statement for the fee. Please enclose the invoice/statement with your payment. Failure to do so may result in our inability to properly record it.

Thank you for your interest in our publication.

JRH · Feb 11, 2008

Hi Limey,

Here are two links to Kooser Poems, (11 Total): http://www.tedkooser.com/excerpts.html and http://www.poemhunter.com/ted-kooser/

No need to pay blood money when others have already bit the bullet.

Write On,

Jim Hoye, (JRH)

LimeyDawg · Feb 12, 2008

Thanks, Jim. I guess it's a money game. They could have thrown me a bone in the name of Fair Use and maybe somebody would have bought a book or two. It's unfortunate because I really like Kooser's work. Ah well, onto others.

LimeyDawg · Feb 12, 2008

And if anyone is interested, After Years is available on the link Jim put up to Poem Hunter. I think that one is brilliant in the way Kooser takes us to the other side of the universe and then, at the very last line, brings us back to the now, and we realize that it was a metaphor all along. Really, really well done. (pssst, and most of Ted's works are short reads, too.)

A. Hamilton · Feb 14, 2008

funny, I read his book about writing poetry, but never his poems. (except for those used as examples in the book).
this poem is wonderful in its largeness of the images used to portray his feelings.
ok ... off to look for more of his work.

Appalachian Writer · Mar 6, 2008

Kooser is reading at Emory and Henry College in Abingdon, VA on March 10th. I'm looking forward to hearing him. We here in far southwest VA almost never have people as well known as Kooser around here. Such excitement.

JBI · Mar 8, 2008

Meh, good, but not great. His problem is he lacks the depth that other poets have, and his poems only are enjoyed once, whereas other poets' work deserve numerous re-reads, and even memorization.

LimeyDawg · Mar 8, 2008

Interesting. I thought that "After Years" actually had some depth. Not, perhaps, in the educated wordplay one often finds in the work of "brilliant" poets, but more in the structure...in the way the poem begins and ends in the same place, in the brilliance of the ending of a work that goes from the infinite expanse of the universe (and, by extension, a missive on the distance between Ns desire and his reality) to a very real, very small piece of existence (on the retina of the astronomer) that solidifies the poet's pain. Eh, to each his own I suppose, but I personally find a depth here beyond the idea that the poem is simply about a person who laments the loss of another from their life.

An Intro to Ted Kooser

LimeyDawg

Scars are poems too

LimeyDawg

Scars are poems too

LimeyDawg

Scars are poems too

JRH

practical experience, FTW

LimeyDawg

Scars are poems too

LimeyDawg

Scars are poems too

A. Hamilton

here for a minute...catch me?

Appalachian Writer

Somewhere in the hills....

JBI

LimeyDawg

Scars are poems too