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Hey dVerse poets!  Jennifer Wagner here.  Here’s just a quick little intro about me.  I’ve been involved at dVerse off and on throughout the years since 2012.  I first began writing poetry in my much younger days and have taken breaks from writing for sometimes years at a time.  My husband and I have been married for 27 years and have four adult sons and one daughter-in-law.  I moved to Arizona just over three years ago from western Washington State, and most recently, I’ve been a full-time homeschool teacher and a small business owner.  Fun facts: in addition to loving poetry, I also love pajamas, and peanut butter.  Drop me a note below and tell me three of your fun favorites—I’d love to know (points for using alliteration 😉).  Thank you, Grace, for the invitation to host today!  Let’s get to it…

Today I’d like to offer you inspiration from the work of poet Ted Kooser.  I’ve been a fan of his poetry for many years and I’m delighted to be able to highlight his work.  Ted Kooser was the 13th U.S. Poet Laureate, serving from 2004-2006 (the first from the Great Plains region).  He won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005 for his book, Delights and Shadows.

His work is known for being accessible and engaging.  Using plain speech, he writes about everyday experiences while subtly illuminating deeper themes.  He has a keen eye for noticing the overlooked and a knack for nuanced metaphor.  His work is often rooted in his particular local landscape: rural life in the Great Plains.

So This Is Nebraska

By:  TED KOOSER

The gravel road rides with a slow gallop
over the fields, the telephone lines
streaming behind, its billow of dust
full of the sparks of redwing blackbirds.

On either side, those dear old ladies,
the loosening barns, their little windows
dulled by cataracts of hay and cobwebs
hide broken tractors under their skirts.

So this is Nebraska. A Sunday
afternoon; July. Driving along
with your hand out squeezing the air,
a meadowlark waiting on every post.

Behind a shelterbelt of cedars,
top-deep in hollyhocks, pollen and bees,
a pickup kicks its fenders off
and settles back to read the clouds.

You feel like that; you feel like letting
your tires go flat, like letting the mice
build a nest in your muffler, like being
no more than a truck in the weeds,

clucking with chickens or sticky with honey
or holding a skinny old man in your lap
while he watches the road, waiting
for someone to wave to. You feel like

waving. You feel like stopping the car
and dancing around on the road. You wave
instead and leave your hand out gliding
larklike over the wheat, over the houses.

Copyright Credit: Ted Kooser, “So This Is Nebraska” from Sure Signs. Copyright © 1980 by Ted Kooser.

I recommend listening to the audio of him reading the poem as well as providing the impetus behind the writing of it (at Poetry Foundation, click the arrow to the right of the poem title—it’s only about two minutes).

In the late 1990’s, Kooser was diagnosed with head and neck cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.  To cope during recovery, he went for walks daily, wrote a short poem and put it on a postcard to author Jim Harrison (author of Legends of the Fall and more) which became Winter Walks: 100 Postcards to Jim Harrison.  Their poetic exchange can be found in, Braided Creek: A Conversation in Poetry.  Kooser’s recovery was successful and he is the author of numerous published works, including essays, children’s books and more.  His work can be found in many places online including his official author site https://www.tedkooser.net/.

So, let’s dive into your challenge today, which is to use Ted Kooser’s “So This Is Nebraska” poem above for inspiration to write your own “So This Is (fill in the blank)” poem.  Immerse us in your locale: country, state, city, neighborhood, beach, forest, coffee shop, restaurant, etc.—any place, and in any season, you choose.  Give us lush detail, employ metaphor or personification or any poetic device to help us to experience it through your poem.  You can riff off Kooser’s title if you wish, but it’s not required.

I’m looking forward to reading about your place!  See you there!

If you’re new, here’s how to join in:

  • Write a poem in response to the prompt.
  • Place a link to this prompt on your post.
  • Enter your name and direct link to your poem into Mr. Linky.
  • Read and comment on poems of others who’ve participated as well.
  • Sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Thank you Jennifer for being our guest host today !   Grace