There were between 25-30 people in attendance (a great turnout, I thought), and Stafford's wife Dorothy was there too . . . the picture of class at 95 years old in pearl earrings and perfectly coiffed white hair, she stood and read a poem that she wrote in response to one he had written many years ago. That poem was about her, and in it, he talked about the things he liked: in colors, he preferred gray & brown, in landscapes, the prairie, in people, calm personalities. Then he described his wife as a "vivid girl from the mountains", who asked him why he had chosen her if those were the things he liked. In the last line of the poem, he says, "there are so many things admirable people do not understand." She grinned like a little girl as she read her rebuttal to his poem. She said she liked crazy, wild people, preferred the mountains and the color orange, and married a quiet, gray man from the prairie who asked why she had then chosen him. As she read the last line, her eyes sparkled, "there are so many things poets do not understand." It was very, very sweet and of course the room erupted in applause.
About ten of us got up one at a time to read a Stafford poem for the group. I chose this one:
"For You"
It is a secret still, but already your tree is chosen.
It has entered a forest for miles
and hides deep in a valley by a river.
No one else finds it; the sun passes over not noticing.
But even while you are reading
you happen to think of that tree,
no matter where sentences go,
talking about other things.
The author tries to be casual,
to turn from the secret.
But you know exactly what is out there.
You set forth alone.
It reminds me of someone I hope to meet one day soon.
After the readings, a short film was shown called "Every War Has Two Losers," which talks about Stafford's lifelong identity as a pacifist and asks some very probing questions about what we believe as individuals and as Americans, and about what we would be willing to do.
I'm not sure if I left with exactly the type of optimism and renewed vigor I'd hoped I would have after attending a Stafford event. Mostly, it left me wanting more.
This afternoon, while I was surfing the net, trying to find a particular poem, I came across this poster on someone else's poetry blog. I had to laugh because even though I'm sure it was meant as a joke, the message comes across: "You are at your peril if you miss this."
I am so glad I did not go through my entire life without having read at least some of his poems.
2 comments:
Yay -- I'm glad you were able to make it to one of the celebrations!
I loved poetry, but have waxed and waned as far as my reading and writing it. You are starting to pull me closer and closer to getting involved with Mr. Stafford, though. Every time I read a poem of his that you post online, I find that I love each word.
Christi, I do hope that you will "get involved" with Stafford at some point. You won't be sorry, I can promise. He just has a way of saying things so true . . .
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