2.09.2005
Ted Kooser's laurels
He's not resting on them.
I saw Ted Kooser, the new Poet Laureate of the US, speak this week. We're all very proud to have a poet laureate from this part of the world - "The first Poet Laureate from the Great Plains," the dignitaries kept saying.
After the dignitaries walked into the wings, the laurel-crowned poet spun out a few jokes to put us at ease. He told us it was uncomfortable to be a small figure in front of a large audience, and he expected that any second an enormous foot would descend from the sky and squish him flat. No one expects a Python reference!! (Not around here).
My favorite image from the evening was (I quote from memory): "He stood on the station platform, three feet above the rest of Kansas." Yes.
I saw Ted Kooser, the new Poet Laureate of the US, speak this week. We're all very proud to have a poet laureate from this part of the world - "The first Poet Laureate from the Great Plains," the dignitaries kept saying.
After the dignitaries walked into the wings, the laurel-crowned poet spun out a few jokes to put us at ease. He told us it was uncomfortable to be a small figure in front of a large audience, and he expected that any second an enormous foot would descend from the sky and squish him flat. No one expects a Python reference!! (Not around here).
My favorite image from the evening was (I quote from memory): "He stood on the station platform, three feet above the rest of Kansas." Yes.
