泰德·库瑟诗9首
泰德·库瑟（Theodore J.“Ted”Kooser，1939-）美国当代诗人和散文作家，2004年8月任第13任美国桂冠诗人且在次年连任一届，因其对话风格的诗而闻名。其诗集《欢乐和阴影》获得了2005年度的普利兹诗歌奖，他还获得过其它11项文学奖项或荣誉，出版有诗集及其它作品共24本。
后门
那扇门很容易推开，轻得
像空气，绿纱门垂着春天。
我们从这里走出去，
走进过去。有个钩子，
要先把它放下来，因为发生了
一些事件：有人从“过去”
走出来，企图从“现在”偷窃
好东西。我们知道他们是谁。
我们已经试着阻止他们，
我们从一栋房子搬到另一栋房子，
从一座城市搬到另一座城市，但是
他们一次又一次找到我们。有时候，
你看见他们从很远的地方走来——
一个年轻的女人，一个英俊的男人，
从后花园的门走进来，他们曾停下来
摘取那有限的几枝玫瑰。
挑选读者
首先，我要她很漂亮，
午后最孤独的时刻里，
她小心翼翼地朝我的诗歌走去，
头发仍然是湿的，贴在脖子上，
刚刚洗过。她应该穿着
一件雨衣，旧了，脏了，
因为没有足够的钱买清洁剂。
她将拿出眼镜，在那里，
在书店里，她翻阅
我的诗，然后将它放回
书架。她将对自己说，
“用这些钱，我可以把雨衣
弄干净。”于是她这么做了。
多年以后
今天，我在远处看着你
走开，毫无声息，
闪光的脸，如冰川
没入海洋。一棵古老的栎树
倒在坎伯兰郡的土地上，只剩
一把树叶，一位老妇人
在撒谷粒喂鸡，她抬头
看了一会儿。银河的
另一边，一颗有我们的太阳
三十五倍大的星星爆炸了，
消失了，在天文学家的视网膜上
留下了一个绿点，那天文学家
站在我的心灵那巨大而空旷的
圆屋顶上，无处倾诉。
在夜空飞行
我们的上面，是星星。下面，是星座。
五十亿英里之外，一个星系死去了，
犹如一片落在水面上的雪花。在我们的下面，
某个农场主，感觉到了那遥远的死亡带来的寒冷，
他啪的一声打开院子里的灯，把他的小棚屋和谷仓
拉回到自己所能照看的世界内。
整个夜晚，城市如发着微光的新星一般
拖着明亮的街道，那亮光如农场主的灯光一样孤独地亮着。
生日诗
黎明刚过，太阳以它那
笨重的红脑袋
站在树林的黑枝桠上，
等待某人
带着他的水桶
来取这冒着泡沫的白光，
然后是牧场上长长的一天。
我也把我的白天用于放牧，
享用每一个绿色的时刻，
直到黑暗来临，
我和其他人一起
走进夜晚，
摇动这只带有我名字的
锡制的小铃铛。
办公室的清晨
雨水在我办公室的窗格上
结出水珠，
在每个小小的“镜头”里，
角落的储蓄箱
在空中倒挂着。
这场雨
在夜里演奏了一曲
多么奇妙的音乐，一千个箱子
翻转过来，零钱
从抽屉里跑出来
沿着楼梯往上弹跳着
来到屋顶，
蕨的打击乐
从它们的花盆里滴落，
圆珠笔
从笔座中蹦出来，
落进柔软的
雪堆一样的存款单中。
在这一整天里，
太阳将把玻璃烤干，
而我将听着那些自己调转身体的箱子
以及那些数着硬币的
低薪的出纳员们
所奏出的柔软的钢琴声。
一月
在夜那冰冷的蜂巢中，只有一格
被照亮，它看起来大致是这样的：
一家越南咖啡馆，油灯，
花朵状的香料。
谈笑声，筷子清脆的撞击声。
玻璃窗外，这冬天的城市
像一座老木桥一样吱吱作响。
我们的楼下涌起了一股大风。
窗户越大，晃动得就越厉害。
快乐的生日
这个傍晚，我坐在一扇敞开的窗户旁
读着书，直到光线全都消失，书
没入黑暗，成了黑暗的一部分。
我能很轻易地打开灯，
但是我想乘坐着这一日进入夜晚，
我独自坐着，用灰暗的手的幽灵，
将那不能读的书页抚平。
Born in Iowa in 1939
The former U.S. poet laureate (2004-2006), Ted Kooser, was born in Ames, Iowa, in 1939. In 1962, he completed a bachelor of science degree from Iowa State University and in 1968 a master of arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Kooser currently holds the position of Presidential Professor at The University of Nebraska, teaching the writing of poetry. Prior to teaching, he served many years until his retirement in 1999 as a vice-president of Lincoln Benefit Life, an insurance company. He and his wife, Kathleen Rutledge, a former editor of The Lincoln Journal Star, reside on a farm near Garland, Nebraska. They have a son, Jeff, and two granddaughters, Penelope and Margaret.
Appointed Poet Laureate
The position of the American poet laureate remains important for poetry. A glimpse into the biographies of recent holders of that position will shed light on the position of poetry in 21st century America.
Ted Kooser was appointed poet laureate in 2004, and in April 2005 James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress, reappointed him to that position for 2005. During the same week in April that Kooser received the reappointment as poet laureate, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his book of poems, Delights & Shadows.
Kooser is widely published in such influential journals as The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, Poetry, and The Hudson Review. His work has appeared in textbooks used at the high school and college level, and he has been awarded two National Endowments of the Arts fellowships in poetry, the Stanley Kunitz Prize, the Pushcart Prize, the James Boatwright Prize, and a Merit Award from the Nebraska Arts Council.
The 13th poet laureate has read widely across the country for the Academy of American Poetry. He has also read at many universities including the University of California at Berkeley, Cornell at Ithaca, Case Western Reserve at Cleveland, The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, and Wesleyan University in Connecticut. And he has taught workshops at many of these universities.
Essayist, Playwright, Children's Book Author
Not only is the former laureate a poet, but he is also an essayist, playwright, fiction writer, literary critic, and children's book author. His nonfiction prose book, Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps, has won numerous awards.
The University of Nebraska Press brought out his latest book of prose The Poetry Home Repair Manual in January 2005, a book to help beginning poets get started with their craft.
Kooser has also authored a number of children's books, including Bag in the Wind, Candlewick Press, 2010; The House Held Up by Trees, Candlewick Press, 2012; The Bell in the Bridge, Candlewick Press, 2016. He has two further and Making Mischief: Two Poets at Play Among Figures of Speech, in collaboration with Connie Wanek, also from Candlewick slated to appear in 2019 or 2020.
Editor and Publisher
As editor and publisher at Windflower Press, Kooser has published contemporary poetry, including two literary magazines, The Salt Creek Reader (1967-1975) and The Blue Hotel (1980-1981). The former won several grants from the National Endowment of the Arts.
The Windflower publication, The Windflower Home Almanac of Poetry, was honored as the best book from a small press in 1980.
American Life in Poetry
Each poet laureate infuses his/her own agenda into the position, and Ted Kooser initiated a unique venue for achieving the goal of increasing readership for poetry. His American Life in Poetry offers a column free to newspapers each week. The column has gained readership since its inception and now boasts an estimated circulation of 3.5 million readers worldwide.
The site allows readers to register to receive weekly email messages with links to each current American Life in Poetry Column. Description of this site's endeavor from the site explains:
The poem in each column is brief and will be enjoyable and enlightening to readers of newspapers and online publications. Each week, a new column will be posted. Registered publications will receive new columns by email. Our archive of previous columns is also available for publication.
If a reader misses a column or just wishes to reread certain poems, an archive list of all poems is available. This Kooserian poetry function, American Life in Poetry, is likely one of the best ideas coming from the poet laureates, who often come and go without much notice and without leaving such an important impact of the art's promotion.
Kooser has published fourteen collections of poetry. Critics have characterized his style as "haiku-like imagist." His work is often compared to Kentuckian Wendell Berry, but Kooser’s work is seen as less intense than Berry, less religious, and probably less universal.
Kooser’s poetry is called “accessible” which means it is easy to understand. To many modern, or postmodern, American minds, such a distinction is the kiss of death. The lovers of obscure verse will find plenty in Kooser to deride, but the whole point of the position of poet laureate is to help make poetry more accessible in order to attract a wider audience for the art.
Kooser's work is pleasing with just enough wit to bring a smile and just enough nature description to bring a moment of recognition from time to time. Whether reading his work or listening to him read it, the audience cannot but be aware that this is a man in love with life and poetry.
Kooser remains available for lectures; his booking agent for speaking engagements and other public events is Alison Granucci.
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