Poetry and Potential

April is Earth Month, and yesterday, of course, was Earth Day. But April is also National Poetry Month, and what better way to observe it than to look to Oregon's Poet Laureate, Kim Stafford, himself a man deeply connected to the Earth. His classic work Having Everything Right: Essays of Place is a treasure, but an especially compelling read during Earth Month and at this time in our history. The jacket note explains that “[a]nimating …all [of the essays] is the sense that there is joy in knowing the world — and the belief that true knowing brings, as Stafford says, ‘a change of heart.’ " Haven’t we all gotten the message through this pandemic that a change of heart —  even a collective one — is possible?

As Poet Laureate, Stafford has been been writing a series of poems during the pandemic. Here’s one that’s especially relevant now:

Shelter in Place

Long before the pandemic, the trees
knew how to guard one place with 
roots and shade. Moss found
how to hug a stone for life.
Every stream works out how
to move in place, staying home
even as it flows generously
outward, sending bounty far.
Now is our time to practice —
singing from balconies, sending
words of comfort by any courier,
kindling our lonesome generosity
to shine in all directions like stars.
             ~Kim Stafford

You can read — and hear Stafford read —Shelter in Place and his other pandemic poems at: Stafford Pandemic Poems They are everything good poetry should be, and each is inspired. I highly recommend that you savor each one.

While we wrestle with so many problems and concerns, we can also see more clearly what life looks like when we slow down. We may not have Kim Stafford’s gift for words, but we all have the capacity — and now, for most, the opportunity — to pay closer attention to the natural world, to really see nature as he does.

We have the potential to change our hearts and change our behaviors in ways that can make a difference for our planet and for all creatures on it. As the Earth begins to heal from our excesses, so can we. May it be so. And may it continue when this is over.

Until tomorrow, be safe and be well.

Love,
Nancie/Mom/Mimi/Grandma


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