Comments on: william stafford | the darkness around us is deep

By: Radically Accessible Poetry | Dactyls & Drakes

Radically Accessible Poetry | Dactyls & Drakes — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:45:36 +0000

[...] took this image from The Poetry Dispatch blog entry on William Stafford. You can see a few more of his radically accessible poems [...]

By: saadiwriting

saadiwriting — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:35:08 +0000

One of my favourites:

To My Young Friends Who Are Afraid

There is a country to cross you will
find in the corner of your eye, in
the quick slip of your foot–air far
down, a snap that might have caught.
And maybe for you, for me, a high, passing
voice that finds its way by being
afraid. That country is there, for us,
carried as it is crossed. What you fear
will not go away: it will take you into
yourself and bless you and keep you.
That’s the world, and we all live there.

William Stafford

By: Haydn Reiss

Haydn Reiss — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:12:58 +0000

Since you are an admirer of Bill Stafford, check out my new film, “Every War Has Two Losers”, based on Bill’s journals and centered on his poems and thoughts connected to his life as a conscientious objector. http://www.everywar.com The dvd also includes my first film, the 1994 “William Stafford & Robert Bly: A Literary Friendship”. I’d appreciate help in spreading the word. Thanks! Haydn Reiss

By: Mike Koehler

Mike Koehler — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:56:03 +0000

Norb, at a time when things are so screwed up, you throw a Stafford life line. Yes, no or maybe. Our answers should be clear… a challenge every poet must face sooner or later.
If I could only own one book it would be his Stories That Could Be True. Thanks
old Coyote, howling not just news of the day but against the darkness, which is indeed, deep.

By: Jon Wolston

Jon Wolston — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:24:24 +0000

Bravo.

By: Ralph Murre

Ralph Murre — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 03:12:35 +0000

Thanks, Norb, for this glimpse into Stafford’s dark, and this reminder to take him from the shelf. I, too, have long long been aware of his presence and prominence, and woefully UNaware of most of his poetry.

By: Eric Chaet

Eric Chaet — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:28:26 +0000

I met him once. He was exceptional. Strong enough to be completely kind & open, to enjoy you, no performance required—like a couple of kids who like the opportunity of being with one another—presumably unless you gave him reason to stop being so. He wasn’t needy, & wasn’t proving anything, either. Not many I’ve met get so far along in life, & manage to be so. The wealth he had was real.

By: Gina Mannella

Gina Mannella — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:15:09 +0000

Norbert, you are so right in your observations here. It also applies to poets that we have read and loved, but for some reason, haven’t read in quite a while. For no real reason, some writers just recede in my mind and are neglected for a while. Or a poet whose first one or two or five or six poems I read years ago didn’t grab me so I shut the door. Thanks.