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
January 9, 2015 at 6:21 am
Stafford has been one of my favorite poets for many years; he sits with Wallace Stevens and Adrienne Rich in the highest part of my pantheon. I’ve long handed “Traveling Through the Dark” to anyone who says in my presence that they don’t like poetry because it’s too hard: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171495
LikeLike
January 9, 2015 at 7:10 pm
Thank you Maia for the link! I was not acquainted with Stafford until now. I really like him. Publishing another today.
Traveling Through the Dark really grabbed me. “I thought hard for us all—my only swerving—,
then pushed her over the edge into the river.” Such simple words and yet, so much life there.
LikeLike
January 10, 2015 at 3:30 am
That might be the thing I like best about him: There’s a line between simple language and simplistic language, and he always seems to stay on the good side of it and to show how much can be done there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 9, 2015 at 10:44 am
wow, this poem really spoke to me this morning, I am wrangling with the issue of fear right now and have the choice whether to keep it in my life or get rid of the source of the fear, but I wonder if I get rid of the source, will the fear still manifest in other ways?
“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”
I think that this is what I need to hear; fear is the watch word and it will in the end, bless me. Somebody else told me recently not to strive too much to get rid of my fear as it tells me so much about what is really important in my life x
LikeLike
January 9, 2015 at 6:55 pm
Thanks, glad to have posted it! The poem really spoke to me too. I talk about my own fear a lot on this blog. I realized I see it as an enemy. Those four lines brought tears to my eyes.
LikeLiked by 1 person