Model Poem

Selecting A Reader

First, I would have her be beautiful,
and walking carefully upon my poetry
at the loneliest moment of an afternoon,
her hair still damp at the neck
from washing it. She should be wearing
a raincoat, an old one, dirty
from not having money enough for the cleaners.
She will take out her glasses, and there
in the bookstore, she will thumb
over my poems, then put the book back
up on its shelf. She will say to herself,
“For that kind of money, I can get
my raincoat cleaned.” And she will.

Ted Kooser

She Is My Music

It would be that woman who walks
along the sidewalk tripping over her pants
that are so worn the hem has come out.
But once she steps foot in the store,
she hears my music. The lyrics and sounds
run through her ears down to her feet
like a cable to a television. Producing the
most graceful movement ever seen.
Customers stand and stare and once the song
gets over, she’s out the door, off to the tailors.

Joey Garber
(Modeled after Ted Kooser’s “Selecting A Reader”)