I’ve had a pretty hectic week at work but tonight was yoga night and it was exactly what I needed. So good and relaxing. After class I just came home and not wanting to break that spell of relaxation, I started reading some poetry. I need to remember to do this more often.
Here is one of the poems I especially enjoyed this evening.
Selecting A Reader
by 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
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
up on its shelf. She will say to herself,
“For that kind of money, I can get
my raincoat cleaned.” And she will.
Poem is from the Poetry 180 collection.
Oh that’s beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
I like that one! I used to take a yoga class and it was really relaxing. I should take it up again, but it’s one of those things I never get around to.
Lovely poem. Thanks for sharing it. I agree with you that poetry is a nice way to relax and forget about work. It takes you to an entirely different place.
I now have a braincrush on Kooser! What a perfect poem.
What a nice way to spend an evening — yoga and poetry!
Really nice poem, thank you for sharing!
Thank you for introducing me to Ted Kooser!
I love “Selecting a Reader,” because of the clear, uncomplicated language and the strong visual images. It also paints such an honest picture of life.
I’ll have to look up more poems by him. 🙂
So glad you guys liked that poem! I think that’s why I love anthologies so much – there’s such a great variety of poems/poets. And, a lot of the poems they choose seem very approachable you know.
That is a wonderful poem, and I’m envious that you had yoga and poetry in the same night!