William Stafford
William Stafford
Prolific American poet and 1970 U.S. Poet Laureate who won the National Book Award for Traveling Through the Dark. His numerous other works include In the Clock of Reason, Brother Wind, Passwords, and Wyoming Circuit.
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth17 January 1914
CountryUnited States of America
million
One way to find your place is likethe rain, a million requestsfor lodging, one that wins, findsyour cheek: you find your home.
contend evidence living
I am a person a dictionary-maker has to contend with. I am a living evidence in the development of language.
corner faint interest poetry prepared side straight worse
Poetry is the kind of thing you have to see from the corner of your eye. You can be too well prepared for poetry. A conscientious interest in it is worse than no interest at all. . . . It's like a very faint star. If you look straight at it you can't see it, but if you look a little to one side it is there.
bucket cool memory
Let the bucket of memory down into the well,bring it up. Cool, cool minutes. No onestirring, no plans. Just being there.
leave room sound
Leave sound in an emptyhouse in its own room there. . . .
evening forest hill path silence touched
Silence on a hill where the path endedand then the forest belowmoving in one long whisperas evening touched the leaves.
below ended evening forest hill moving path silence touched whisper
Silence on a hill where the path ended and then the forest below moving in one long whisper as evening touched the leaves.
bright cover cup island shelter storm winter
Shelter in winter that day --a storm coming, but in the leeof an island in a cover with friends --oh, little bright cup of sun.
air earth emperor listen next saying time
Next time what I'd do is look atthe earth before saying anything. I'd stopjust before going into a houseand be an emperor for a minuteand listen better to the windor to the air being still.
air earth emperor house listen minute next saying stop time wind
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.
answer dark matter miss whisper
They miss the whisper that runsany day in your mind,"Who are you really, wanderer?"and the answer you have to giveno matter how dark and coldthe world around you is:"Maybe I'm a king.
awake breaking darkness discourage line maybe people signals yes
For it is important that awake people be awake,or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;the signals we give -- yes or no, or maybe --should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.
half
It's love," they say. You touchthe right one and a whole half of the universewakes up, a new half.
common heroes locate ourselves time
It is time for all the heroes to go homeif they have any, time for all of us common onesto locate ourselves by the real thingswe live by.