Why I Keep a Diary

Why I Keep a Diary


While I follow the wind
there is no wind. Because
my wings are silent. I follow
the coast and find these pines
wrapped in their wind,
those old believers.

And I know that I am alive
and this is the world's trail
a day, a day, a day
mark on its own track.
Where did the others go?

Pacemaker sun, persuader,
and heart that wants to beat
(and then the soul's one stride):
my destiny is to find
this coast I follow.


William Stafford

Posted over on Friends of William Stafford