I just picked up "Delights & Shadows" by Ted Kooser after reading a review in the Christian Science Monitor.
The poems are simple but eloquent in an understated way. Mr. Kooser has a way of shining a spotlight on common images that give them a new shape and unexpected texture. How many times have you seen a pegboard with the requisite tools outlined in spray paint and never once thought about the hand prints found in prehistoric cave paintings? Here's another example of great imagery and wordplay.
Tattoo
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 ...
It's great stuff. Come to find out Mr. Kooser spent his life as an executive in the insurance industry.
P.S.
If you are the co-worker who prefers to be known as my favorite, the point of this is the imagery and word play, not whether I think tattoo's are vain. After all, someone vain enough to blog, is unlikely to really be in a position to point fingers about vanity anyway. I'm quite certain I would have a tattoo if only I could commit to something.
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 ...
