Ted Kooser's Poetry Home Repair Manual

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Ted Kooser's Poetry Home Repair Manual
August 28, 2008

Hello Poets and Poetry Lovers

What do Ted Kooser, Spoken Word, and Kay Ryan have in common? They're all new additions to World Class Poetry this week.

Of course, you read Kooser's "American Life In Poetry" column every week, but have you read his book, The Poetry Home Repair Manual? If not, sit back because Ted Kooser is here and we're pairing him up with urban hip hop, slam, and Spoken Word poets. Great combination, eh?

Poetry Video Of The Week - "Krispy Kreme" by Poetri
New World Class Poetry Pages
Updated World Class Poetry Pages
American Life in Poetry by Ted Kooser
New World Class Poetry Blog Posts
Poetry Book Of The Week
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World Class Poetry Networking

Updated World Class Poetry Pages

Poetri has some great Spoken Word poems and "Krispy Kreme" is a popular hit at Def Poetry Jam. Some of his other titles are just as funny and provocative. Enjoy:

If you can't see the video then click here.

New World Class Poetry Pages

Two new pages this week, both poetry reviews.

Updated World Class Poetry Pages

The process of upgrading to the new look has been kind of slow and I get a little bit done each week, but I'm also adding new pages, which means I get to update some existing pages to accommodate their neighbors. Such is the case this week with a new look for the poetry book reviews page in addition to the other updates:

Home Page
The Poet Laureate (including the addition of newly appointed poet laureate Kay Ryan)
Poetry Book Reviews

American Life in Poetry: Column 177

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

Kristen Tracy is a poet from San Francisco who here captures a moment at a zoo. It's the falling rain, don't you think, that makes the experience of observing the animals seem so perfectly truthful and vivid?

Rain at the Zoo

A giraffe presented its head to me, tilting it
sideways, reaching out its long gray tongue.
I gave it my wheat cracker while small drops
of rain pounded us both. Lightning cracked open
the sky. Zebras zipped across the field.
It was springtime in Michigan. I watched
the giraffe shuffle itself backwards, toward
the herd, its bone- and rust-colored fur beading
with water. The entire mix of animals stood
away from the trees. A lone emu shook
its round body hard and squawked. It ran
along the fence line, jerking open its wings.
Perhaps it was trying to shake away the burden
of water or indulging an urge to fly. I can't know.
I have no idea what about their lives these animals
love or abhor. They are captured or born here for us,
and we come. It's true. This is my favorite field.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c) Kristen Tracy, whose most recent teen novel is "Crimes of the Sarahs," Simon & Schuster, 2008. Poem reprinted from AGNI online, 9/2007, by permission of Kristen Tracy. Introduction copyright (c) 2008 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

New World Class Poetry Blog Posts

Poetry Book Of The Week

The Poetry Home Repair Manual by Ted Kooser is a simple book on poetics written for beginning poets. Not everyone get will something out of it, but if you are an aspiring poet still struggling with your first credits then you'll get a lot out of this book.