Fragments of Poetry

Occasionally, I will share with you the work of a few of my favorite Poets. I've been collecting excerpts for many years. Collecting could mean underlining in a book of collected poems, or I may quote them in my Journal entries.

Today I will highlight William Stafford. Particularly, An Oregon Message c 1987.

The pieces I have chosen help support my intentions for this "Walk With Father Nature" blog:

To be grateful for the gifts we are given,
to share these gifts with others.

Enjoy these fragments of poetry from William Stafford. Savor the message.

In the introduction Stafford writes:

"Each poem is a gift, a surprise that emerges as itself..."



"Waiting in Line"

There have been evenings when the light
has turned everything silver, and like you
I have stopped at the corner and suddenly
staggered with the grace of it all: to have
inherited all this, ...

"Next Time"

Next time what I'd do is look at
the earth before saying anything. I'd stop
just before going into a house
and be an emperor for a minute
and listen better to the wind
          or to the air being still.

"On Earth"

The lives we have, while we have them,
can measure time , before and after
today, to use or give away.

On earth it is like this, a strange
gift we hold, while we look around.

"Little Rooms"

There are rooms in a life, apart from others, rich
with whatever happens, a glimpse of moon, a breeze.
You who come years from now to this brief spell
of nothing that was mine: the open, slow passing
of time was a gift going by. I have put my hand out
on the mane of the wind, like this, to give it to you.

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

Photo Locations:

1. Santa Catalina Mountains - (Santa Catalina Mtns.) Arizona
2. Beverly Beach State Park, (Beverly Beach) Oregon
3. National Veteran's Cemetery - SantaFe, (Santa Fe)New Mexico
4. Whitefish Point - (Whitefish Point) Lake Superior - Michigan

An Oregon Message  c 1987   by William Stafford