Hayes+Callaway+-+Ted+Kooser

=Blogger: Hayes Callaway=
 * Poet: Ted Kooser**

First, I would have her be beautiful, and walking carefully up on my poetry at the loneliest moment of an afternoon, her hair still damp at the neck from washing it. She should be wearing (5) a raincoat, an old one, dirty from not having money enough for the cleaners. She will take out her glasses, and there in the bookstore, she will thumb over my poems, then put the book back (10) up on its shelf. She will say to herself, "For that kind of money, I can get my raincoat cleaned." And she will.
 * Selecting A Reader**

I chose this poem by Ted Kooser specifically because the title caught my attention. Most of the time when Poets write their poems they are not able to control who eventually reads them. I feel as though, through this title, Ted Kooser is given the chance to choose who will be reading his poems, yet once the reader begins reading the poem, that's clearly not the case. The reader finds that Kooser is actually making false assumptions on who reads them, and what a horrible critic they will be. Kooser uses really vivid detail to describe the woman that would be reading his poem. He describes her as having “damp” hair and “wearing a raincoat, an old one” (5-6). He specifically lists these details to outline her being apart of the lower class, which he eventually tells the reader saying, “not having enough money for the cleaners”. Kooser outlines her lack of wealth even more through talking about wealthy activities, such as going to the “cleaners” (7) or flipping through a “book” (10), rather than buying it. Kooser eventually connects the idea of her lack of wealth to his poems in the last three lines. He starts speaking in a pitiful tone by stating that the woman would rather get her “raincoat cleaned” than spend her “money” (12) on his poems. Through this poem, I think Kooser is doing something that many students do these days; many students often tell themselves they are not good enough for something so that they will not have to face the horrible repercussions on believing something that would turn out wrong. For example, when applying to college quite a few of my friends were telling themselves they would not get into a college because they did not want to have false hope. Clearly, this is exactly what Kooser is doing in his poem by just facing the fact that he thinks his poems will really be reviewed very harshly, so that if they are in the end, it will not be as bad to accept. All in all, I think this poem really does a great job of stating a fact that many people really do face in life about avoiding false hope. The video I'm posting is an example what I believe Kooser is doing with his poem - using somewhat of a Reverse Psychology. In this video the Target Lady (from the commercials) is using reverse psychology to get what she really wants, yet saying another thing; Kooser uses a similar tactic through messing with his own mind to understand what is the true outcome, rather than someone else's. []

Today, from a distance, I saw you walking away, and without a sound the glittering face of a glacier slid into the sea. An ancient oak fell in the Cumberlands, holding only (5) a handful of leaves, and an old woman scattering corn to her chickens looked up for an instant. At the other side of the galaxy, a star thirty-five times the size of our own sun exploded (10) and vanished, leaving a small green spot on the astronomer's retina as he stood on the great open dome of my heart with no one to tell.
 * After Years**

I chose this next poem by Ted Kooser because every word in the poem is truly amazing. Although I have only been studying Ted Kooser’s poems for two weeks now, this poem has to be the most heartfelt, amazing poem I have ever read in English. From the beginning, Kooser takes the reader on a journey through the relationship of someone finally professing his or her love to another. I think Kooser chose the title “After Years” to explain the hardship of trying to profess one’s love to another, and no being able to do it. Kooser begins through his statement of “from a distance, I saw you walking away” (1-2)”. I think Kooser uses “distance” (1) to emphasis how long these two people have been apart - physically and mentally. Kooser then takes that thought and completely connects it to how much the narrator seems to miss this person (“you” (1)), through the statement of all these amazing events that occur on Earth, such as an “ancient oak [falling] in the Cumberlands” (4-5), “an old woman” (6) stopping what she is doing to look up, and even “a glacier slid[ing] into the sea” (3-4). Kooser uses this vivid imagery to express how much love the narrator truly has for the other person. What I find really interesting about this poem is the use of point of view. The narrator is talking to the reader as though he is talking to someone in a coffee shop, yet he or she cannot tell the other person how much he or she loves him or her. I think this is a very confusing, yet interesting way of setting up the complications of the narrator’s beliefs. The video I chose to outline the exact feeling Kooser tries to get across is from //Miss Congeniality//. In this scene, Agent Matthews is stating how pretty Gracie Hart looks; instead of taking this seriously, she begins to make fun of him, singing a song to him, which eventually shuts him up. He then is about to face what he truly wants, which is to kiss her, but then avoids it by putting a Snickers Bar in between them, breaking the moment. []

What once was meant to be a statement— a dripping dagger held in the fist of a shuddering heart—is now just a bruise on a bony old shoulder, the spot where vanity once punched him hard (5) and the ache lingered on. He looks like someone you had to reckon with, strong as a stallion, fast and ornery, but on this chilly morning, as he walks between the tables at a yard sale (10) with the sleeves of his tight black T-shirt rolled up to show us who he was, he is only another old man, picking up broken tools and putting them back, his heart gone soft and blue with stories. (15)
 * Tattoo**

After looking for a good Ted Kooser poem to possibly write a paper on, I finally found this poem called "Tattoo" that really stood out to me. Growing up, I have met quite a few people that decide to get a tattoo just for fun because it may either a) look cool at the time or b) have an extended personal meaning. In this poem, I feel as though Ted Kooser is trying to outline the character that has gotten a tattoo, but now is looking back on and feels that the tattoo may not have been worth the time/money due to the later affects. Kooser begins the poem with a broad explanation of what the "statement" that is written on the man's arm reads; yet, Kooser uses his lines two and three to explain to the reader that it clearly was not a nice statement, or something you would be proud of later on in life "a dripping dagger held in the fist of a shuddering hear". He uses "dripping dagger" to his advantage to explain that this statement could feel like a dagger going through your heart. As Kooser continues with the poem, he focuses on the man's current state now that he has grown up. Kooser uses vivid imagery to show that the man is clearly old through words such as "bony" (4), "old" (13), "soft" (15), and "blue" (15). Kooser does look back on what the character used to be, which he describes as a "strong" (8) and "fast" (8) man; yet, quickly after this explanation of what the man used to look like, Kooser focuses on a scene of what he is like now. Kooser now brings his audience to what the man is now. He talks about the man "walk[ing] between the tables of a yard sale with the sleeves of his tight black T-shirt rulled up" (9-11). Kooser uses this statement to show that the man is clearly not too wealthy, having to look through things at a yard sale. One might say that this is due to the decisions he made when he got his tattoo. Kooser also explains that he's still wearing the "tight black T-shirt" to show that the man still carries something from his past, which is why he is still in the same financial state. Kooser finalizes this idea with the statement of how the man is "picking up broken tools and putting them back" (13-14). Kooser does this to further explain that the man is now paying for his mistakes in his past, and is currently making up for them. I found this video that explains what happens to tattoos as one ages. This video's explanation is quite similar to Kooser's own ideas he is truly to convey to his readers. []

She was all in black but for a yellow pony tail that trailed from her cap, and bright blue gloves that she held out wide, the feathery fingers spread, as surely she stepped, click-clack, onto the frozen top of the world. And there, with a clatter of blades, (5) she began to braid a loose path that broadened into a meadow of curls. Across the ice she swooped and then turned back and, halfway, bent her legs and leapt into the air the way a crane leaps, blue gloves lifting her lightly, and turned a snappy half-turn (10) there in the wind before coming down, arms wide, skating backward right out of that moment, smiling back at the woman she'd been just an instant before.
 * Skater**

The instant I read this poem, I connected immediately to it. From the age of six to eleven, I would go ever summer up to New York and visit my family. During this time, I would constantly go to the park to hang out with some good friends that lived in New York. On of my friends, Kelly, was this awesome girl that was definitely a tom-boy; everything Kelly wanted to do involved sports, shorts, t-shirts, and tennis shoes. Kelly would always be made fun of for her constant boyish qualities, but I looked at her in awe. No one ever believed or though of her in a way that she could ever look pretty or be in a dress; yet, the summer of 2008, my aunt was getting married. I remember clearly, when Kelly turned the corner, my jaw dropped at how beautiful she truly was when she wanted to be. I think this story completely relates to Kooser's poem, "Skater". In this poem, Kooser uses a lot of light verses dark to distinguish beautiful and girly from dirty and boyish. Kooser discusses the beautiful qualities of girl with her "yellow pony tail" (1), "bright blue gloves" (2), and "feathery fingers" (3); Kooser also describes the girl's boyish qualities such as dressed "all in black" (1), wearing "her cap" (2), and the "clatter of [her] blades" (5). Kooser then explains what happens as the girl begins skating. Kooser shows that underneath all of her boyish qualities, the girl expresses her beauty by doing exactly what she loves, skating. He explains that this activity is her chance to let her "braid[s] ... loose" (6) and display the "meadow of curls" (7) hidden underneath her cap. Kooser continues by explaining what happens after she leaves from her start. Kooser uses "crane" (9) to show how soft the girl really is with her movements and how girly she truly can be. Kooser finished by justifying that the girl truly is "smiling back [upon] the woman she'd been" (13) for a moment. The clip below I chose from the movie //Miss Congeniality//. At the beginning of this scene, Gracie Hart is seen as a tom-boy character that no one would find necessarily attractive on the outside; yet, by the end of the clip, one can clearly see from the reactions of the people's faces that Gracie Hart is truly a beautiful woman on the outside also. []