I like William Stafford for the same reason I like Robert Frost. Both wrote poems which, if taken at "face value", appear quite simple. Yet, a closer look reveals complex, thought-provoking works. (In fact, the poems can keep buzzing around in your brain for days. Trust me.)
Here's my favorite William Stafford poem. I am currently thinking about what meaning it might have for me as it relates to my experience with... (cue dramatic music)... the church.
-------------------------------------------------
Ask Me
by William Stafford
Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into
my thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt: ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.
I will listen to what you say.
You and I can turn and look
at the silent river and wait. We know
the current is there, hidden; and there
are comings and goings from miles away
that hold the stillness exactly before us.
What the river says, that is what I say.
---------------------------------------------------
Wouldn't this be cool to discuss over a _______ (fill in your beverage of choice)?
--Barb
No comments:
Post a Comment