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This morning Aidan (my six year old son) and I sat for an hour together watching Ted Kooser read his poetry to a packed hall at UC Santa Barbara in August of 2005. Kooser has such a gentle and honest style. He helps us notice the simple magnificence that surrounds us all. It was an [...]

Of your own accord Training wheels discarded On the garage floor. With my fingers through my hair I said sure. We hit the black top Lot next door, Knowing the fragility of self– Esteem and bones. Like that drunken teenager I remember from years ago On his bike by the Taco Bell, I smiled and [...]

I’ll be teaching poetry writing for the first time in the fall, so I need to consider what I’ll ask the students to read. Beyond a collection of poetry, I wanted a kind of textbook, but not a textbook, if you know what I mean. I’m thinking about Ted Kooser’s Poetry Home Repair Manual. It [...]