Feb. 13: I love Ted Kooser

My love for today is poet Ted Kooser. He's a midwesterner and writes amazing stuff. A few years back he was the poet laureate for the US. His style is so realistic and down to earth. His work captures a midwestern vision, simple language, and somehow he manages to make ordinary beautiful.

One of his books "Valentines" published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2008 is a collection of Valentines poems that he has sent out through personal correspondence for a number of years. This one is particular captures a VERY midwestern mindset the "it could be worse" mindset is something that midwesterners say all the time. Here's Kooser's version of "it could be worse."



IF YOU FEEL SORRY

If you feel sorry for yourself
this Valentine's Day, think of
the dozens of little paper poppies
left in the box when the last
of the candy is gone, how they
must feel, dried out and brown
in their sad old heart-shaped box,
without so much as a single finger
to scrabble around in their
crinkled petals, not even
one pimpled nose to root and snort
through their delicate pot pourri.
So before you make too much
of being neglected, I want you
to think how they feel.