In January Poem by Ted Kooser

In January

Rating: 3.6


Only one cell in the frozen hive of night
is lit, or so it seems to us:
this Vietnamese café, with its oily light,
its odors whose colorful shapes are like flowers.
Laughter and talking, the tick of chopsticks.
Beyond the glass, the wintry city
creaks like an ancient wooden bridge.
A great wind rushes under all of us.
The bigger the window, the more it trembles.

In January
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
John Tiong Chunghoo 24 September 2006

dear ted, this is the haiku to your poem: night the shimmer of the city in the river

4 2 Reply
Percy Dovetonsils 29 January 2005

Haiku-like. 'the wintry city creaks like an ancient wooden bridge' is spot on. The syllables somehow sound like the thing they are talking about. This must be one of his best.

4 1 Reply
Yashim David George 24 September 2022

Fascinating Ted Kooser. Thanks.

0 0 Reply
Donald Plump 21 January 2021

This is trash

0 1 Reply
Tapan Baruah 04 January 2021

V nice poem. ' only one cell lit' heart touching, symbolic.

2 0 Reply
Elena Tsonkova 18 September 2016

Atmospheric, vivid. Makes me peep through that trembling window and reach for the the warmth in that cafe far beyond my reach and at the same time the wind makes me shiver. Beautiful!

4 5 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 18 September 2016

An awesome write and highly enjoyable read.

3 2 Reply
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