"Some
time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life." William Stafford
I really like those lines, so much that I'm using them to introduce a chapter where I muse a bit about the search for vocation. Here's the complete poem:
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 river says, that is what I say.
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 river says, that is what I say.
William Stafford
That is lovely, Cliff. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteLDB
Thanks, LDB! Happy New Year
ReplyDeleteThanks. I needed that.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it, Jotsalot. You get it.
ReplyDelete