Ted Kooser is a two time US poet laureate (2004-2006). The best that I can gather from that honor is the Library of Congress appoints poets and entrusts him/her with no less than, “Why don’t you raise the status of poetry in the everyday conscience of the everyday American? ”

Well, Ted   — in case the Library of Congress is counting, count me in — I have raised my appreciation of poetry soooo much. Tell them to call me, if they want.  Tell them to read this, it’s one of my favorites.

                     In January

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.