A Lake of Starlight TedKooser

It’s not just a light from above, like a weaker moonlight, but more like a lake in which each tree, each person out walking alone is suspended, all of us floating in place like specks of dust, though somehow passing through, which is, of course, the manner in which our planet is held up to the stars by the stars. It’s not a wonder we sometimes feel buoyant, wading out into this light.

[This poem first appeared in Cotton Candy: Poems Dipped Out of the Air]

Ted Kooser is Presidential Professor Emeritus at The University of Nebraska, where he taught the writing of poetry. He worked for many years as a life insurance executive; now retired and teaching half time at the University of Nebraska, Ted lives in Garland, Nebraska. His most recent book is Cotton Candy: Poems Dipped Out of the Air (University of Nebraska Press, 2022).