“Some part of art is the art of waiting”

kooser cropped2The poet Ted Kooser — who won the Pulitzer Prize after he retired — knows something about art and waiting. However, that doesn’t mean he’s a calm poet. His poem “Memory” starts like this: “Spinning up dust and cornhusks as it crossed the chalky, exhausted fields, it sucked up into its heart hot work, cold work, lunch buckets…”  This poem is not a memory of a tornado.  Instead, it shows how memory can be like a tornado that roars with energy and power. What a great metaphor! This link to his website includes a recording of him reading this poem.

Ted Kooser, Delights & Shadows (Port Townsend, Washington, Copper Canyon Press, 2004), 46.



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