Ask Me

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 rivers says, that is what I say.

--William Stafford

Comments

[jlb]

Wow, that's a great one. If you like poetry, you should try "Delights and Shadows" by Ted Kooser.
>^..^<

[jlb]

Snow

I walk snowy forest paths
And breathe deep of icy tranquility.
My only companions
Are the green and grey dormant life
And the faint chime of falling snow.
The soundless chill of the trees
Shuts out the restless pulse
Of the discontented world,
Seeping into my bones,
Absorbing their warmth,
And leaching out of them
Their turbulent confusion.

I return to the world below, frozen;
But quieted now, and serene;
With my mind and my eyes
Filled with an aloof
And snowy silence.
>^..^<

[Rob]

Yeah, I really, really like that poem. It speaks to me on a lot of different levels.

And I also like your poem above as well. It is clear you have a gift not just with images, but with words as well.

[peter]

Thanks for this poem Rob.

I think so much of what happens in our lives goes unseen and unspoken yet affects us so deeply
regards