In Response to a Question

In Response to a Question


The earth says have a place,
be what that place requires;
hear the sound the birds imply
and see as deep as ridges go
behind each other.
(Some people call their scenery flat,
their only picture framed by what
they know; I think around them rise
a riches and a loss too equal
for their chart--but absolutely tall.)

The earth says every summer have a
ranch that's minimum: one tree, one well,
a landscape that proclaims a universe--
sermon of the hills, hallelujah
mountain; highway guided by the way
the world is tilted, reduplication
of mirage, flat evening:
a kind of ritual for the wavering.

The earth says where you live wear
the kind of color that your life is
(gray shirt for me) and by listening
with the same bowed head that sings,
draw all into one song, join the
sparrow on the lawn, and row that
easy way; the rage without
met by the wings within--that guide
you anywhere the wind blows.

Listening, I think that is
what the earth says.


William Stafford

Posted over on William Stafford Archives