Even in Quiet Places

I read this book with eyes half-shut, a bedtime story. The poems sang me a lullaby. The book itself is a collection of four chapbooks, edited and assembled by William Stafford's son Kim. My favorite of these was last, "The Methow River Poems" created by Stafford for the Forest Service, to be etched on road signs in Washington State. Human emotion and story is given to landscape in these poems, and that is my favorite type of poem. Sort of an anthropomorphic way of life--a narcissistic, humanistic way of being which strangely exists outside of self and enters into everything around all of us: people, deer, waves, mountains, trees, rocks, rivers, stars. These poems carve a door, draw the non-human inside the human, and by doing so, draws us humans into the non-human realm, towards something greater, something worthy of worship, to a very, very still and quiet sanctuary.

This wonderful collection of poems is now over ten years old. The first posthumously published Stafford volume, it is full of the breathtaking and insightful poems for which this remarkable poet is known. Stafford's relaxed, friendly voice belies the depth and complexity of his poetry. Bill Stafford (1914-1993) was a greatly loved and admired writer and teacher, authored 67 volumes and was the winner of the 1963 National Book Award, the Shelley Award from the Poetry Society of America and served as Poetry Consultant for the Library of Congress (1970-71). He was appointed Oregon Poet Laureate in 1975. Stafford's poetry is truly a part of the American landscape. Seven of the poems from this volume are "published" on roadside plaques along the river that runs from the heart of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State to meet the Columbia River. The Methow River Poems, among his most visionary and beautiful creations, are a series of 19 poems written shortly before his death. Stafford answered a request by two U.S. Forest Service rangers, Curtis Edwards and Sheela McLean, who wrote him in 1992 asking him to provide the words for some of the 'interpretive' signs that appear throughout our national and state park lands. Stafford enthusiastically agreed. These poems were originally published by Confluence Press in 1995 as The Methow River Poems. To my mind, the poem that best expresses Stafford's vision is "On Being a Person." I myself have read this poem over and over and have recited it to large audiences at commemorative readings of Stafford's poetry. You can hear a pin drop in the audience when this poem is being recited--so riveting, deep and sweeping is its vision. How we stand makes a difference. How we breathe makes a difference. According to Kim Stafford "The poems my father contributed to the Methow project form a distinctive conclusion to this new book (Even in Quiet Places), and, if it is not too grand to say so, an unusual enrichment to the literary history of the American landscape . . . I believe the Methow poems display in the extreme a habit of mind that ... characterizes ... my father's life work." Work that reflected his "customary prolific generosity," somewhat random, with "nuggets of insight" that were universal despite an easy-going, particular, relaxed style. There is a video of William Stafford discussing his commission by the Forest Service to write poems for road signs along the Methow River in Washington State. In the video Garrison Keillor reads six of the poems, Naomi Shihab Nye reads "A Valley Like This," and Stafford himself reads "Emily, This Place and You." These are visions worth treasuring and sharing. Even in quiet places.

Accessable, powerful poems. These book covers topics from nature to war to using your feet to walk out of a sleasy show. My favorite single poem was the one entitled Watching Sandhill Cranes. This book is a collection of four volumes of poetry. My favorite section was the last, The Methow River Poems. These were written for the U.S. Forest Service and displayed along a wilderness road. I loved the idea of hikers coming upon a poem which grabs their attention for a moment and then re-focuses it again in a new light on the beauty around them.

I picked this book up by chance; I happened upon it in the library. So I took it home with a stack of other volumes of poetry. Of those five or six books, this is the only one I remember. Reading these poems is like having someone sitting in front of you weaving a story. Every sight, every sound, every movement comes alive and performs before you. And while some poets allow the beauty of their language distance you from the poem itself, Stafford relies on simple, clear, true language, such that the reader can identify similar situations and emotions in her or his own life. Even in Quiet Places is a marvelous work, simple enough for someone just delving into poetry, and with messages deep and introspective enough for a discerning reader to envelope themselves in. It's fabulous!