2005 Poet Laureate Ted Kooser

Last night, October 26, 2006 Ted Kooser (pictured above) the 2005 Poet Laureate of the United States gave a reading and answered audience questions at the Wyatt Pavilion on the UC Davis campus. Kooser the 13th Poet Laureate hails from Nebraska where he was for over 30 years an insurance agent and is currently a professor of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Most of his poems are easily accessible to the general public and he read poems that ranged from his early, middle and late career. Many of his poems were written from his personal experiences and most are observational in nature. He was actually pretty funny, telling stories to set up each poem and explaining about the inspiration for his poetry. His most memorable poem was inspired by a certain kind of moth that lives off of tears which included the line: "rubbing the dust from his wings from your eyes."