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Ted Kooser is a two-time US Poet Laureate and the author of numerous poetry collections, including Raft (Copper Canyon Press, 2024); Delights & Shadows, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; Splitting an Order; Kindest Regards; and Cotton Candy. As Poet Laureate he created “American Life in Poetry,” a free weekly column for newspapers, featuring a poem by a contemporary American writer. Born in Ames, Iowa, Kooser is a former vice president of Lincoln Benefit Life, where he worked as an insurance representative for many years. He is Presidential Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Photograph by Matt Valentine.

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A Happy Birthday

by Ted Kooser
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This evening I sat by an open window
and read till the light was gone and the book
was no more than a part of the darkness.

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Reader Comments

  • Such a nice way to stitch the darkness covering everything....
  • Delightful. A happy birthday, indeed....

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