30 Quotes by Ted Kooser

Valentine's Day is the poet's holiday.

When she left me I stood out in the thunderstorm, hoping to be destroyed by lightning. It missed, first left, then right.

a happy birthdaythis evening, I sat by an open windowand read till the light was gone and the bookwas no more than a part of the darkness.I could easily have switched on a lamp,but I wanted to ride the day down into night,to sit alone, and smooth the unreadable pagewith the pale gray ghost of my hand

After YearsToday, from a distance, I saw youwalking away, and without a soundthe glittering face of a glacierslid into the sea. An ancient oakfell in the Cumberlands, holding onlya handful of leaves, and an old womanscattering corn to her chickens looked upfor an instant. At the other sideof the galaxy, a star thirty-five timesthe size of our own sun explodedand vanished, leaving a small green spoton the astronomer's retinaas he stood on the great open domeof my heart with no one to tell.

I now know that I was in the presence of the only angels we are ever likely to make the acquaintance of: teachers blessed with the love of small people who are trying to find their place in the world.

Coyote hunting can't be justified on the basis of the damage they do. Shooting coyotes is really just fun, a man with a high-powered rifle trying to see if he can kill a frightened creature that can't shoot back.

I feelthe bear’s heartin her footprints.

She'd had little patience with darkness, and her heartheld only a measure of shadow. I touchedthe warm dust of those colors, her tools,and left there with light on the tips of my fingers.

Te sientes así; con ganas de dejarque tus neumáticos se desinflen, de dejar a los ratonesconstruír un nido en tu silenciador, como si fuerano más que un camión en la maleza,cacareando con pollos o pegajoso con mielo sosteniendo a un frágil anciano en tu regazomientras contempla el camino, esperandoa alguien para saludarlo.