Following

Following


There dwelt in a cave, and winding
I thought lower, a rubber bear that
had overcome his shadow;
and because he was not anything but
good he served all sorts of
pretzel purposes.

When I met plausible men
who called me noble,
I fed them to the bear, and--
bulge! rear!--the shadow never
caught up to the girth, as those
talkers never caught up with
their worth.

And Bear and I often went wild
and frivolous, following a way
that we could create, or claim,
but we had to deal sometimes with
the serious, who think they find
the way when the way finds them.

In their deliberate living
all is planned, but they forget
to squeak sometimes when the wheel
comes round;
Bear and I and other such simple
fellows just count on the wheel,
and the wheel remembers the sound.


William Stafford

Posted over on William Stafford Archives