Seven poems, must-reads for me… #4: William Stafford, “Report from a Far Place”

Seven poems, must reads for me… no particular order… #4:

William Stafford

 
(So many possibilities with Stafford: “At the Un-National Monument along the Canadian Border” … “Thinking for Berky” … “A Ritual to Read to Each Other” … “Ask Me” … “A Message from the Wanderer” … “Things I Learned Last Week” …)

 

“Report from a Far Place”

Making these word things to
step on across the world, I
could call them snowshoes.

They creak, sag, bend, but
hold, over the great deep cold,
and they turn up at the toes.

In war or city or camp
they could save your life;
you can muse them by the fire.

Be careful, though: they
burn, or don’t burn, in their own
strange way, when you say them.
 
 
 
 
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~ by samofthetenthousandthings on June 29, 2018.