Your Sunday Poem

From Ted Kooser's Winter Morning Walks: one hundred postcards to Jim Harrison.

december 3
Clear and cool.

I have been sitting here resting after my morning stroll, and the sun
in its soft yellow work gloves
has come in through the window
and is feeling around on the opposite wall,
looking for me, having seen me
cheerfully walking along the road
just as it rose, having followed me home
to see what I have to be happy about.

Your Sunday Poem

I wrote a fan letter to Ted Kooser that said, in part, "thank you for the gift of your beautiful poems.  They have brought much pleasure and astonishment to my life. "  And Mr. Kooser was kind enough to send a postcard reply that said, in part, thanks for "helping to spread the news of poetry." You're welcome, Mr. Kooser.  Glad to oblige in my small way.  Aren't fan letters fun? You should write one today to your favorite poet.  Quick, do it while he/she's still living!  Or, if that's too daunting, just go out and buy a few of their books so your favorite poet can continue to buy ink and paper. Or check some of their books out of the library and give yourself a feast of words. One poem a night.  Before bed. To be savored like a Godiva chocolate left on the bed pillow by the hotel maid.

This poem is from Kooser's "Winter Morning Walks: one hundred postcards to Jim Harrison."

February 8
Clear and pleasant 

The reason the rooster is crowing
so desperately this morning,
his voice like a gate left open in the wind,
is because the rising sun
is displaying its colorful plumage,
spreading its wings for a thousand miles
along the horizon
and the eyes of every hen are lit with fire.

Your Sunday Postcard

When poet Ted Kooser was recovering from surgery and radiation for cancer, he began walking before dawn each morning to help get his strength back.  During his illness, he had all but given up on writing, but found that during his morning walks, bits and snatches of poems started coming to him.  He began writing the poems down on postcards that he sent to a good friend.  They were a variation of the "correspondence in haiku" the two had been engaged in. The post-card poems are from his book, "Winter Morning Walks: one hundred postcards to Jim Harrison." (2000, Carnegie Mellon University Press)

This lovely book is wonderful to dip into, like a box of Godiva chocolates, to get just one . . . maybe two . . . beautiful pieces to slowly savor.  All of Kooser's books are like that.  I recommend you get a few and try it for yourself.

December 24 / Sunny and clear

Sometimes, when things are going well,
the daredevil squirrel of worry
suddenly leaps from the back of my head
to the feeder, swings by his paws
and clambers up, twitching his question mark tail.
And though I try the recommended baffles --
tin cone of meditation, greased pipe
of positive thought -- every sunflower seed
in this life is his if he wants it.