Birthday Commemorations

January 17, 2007 marked the 93rd anniversary of WS's birth. Besides numerous celebrations largely in the pacific northwest, Garrison Keillor dedicated that day's episode of the Writer's Almanac to one of WS's poems, "What's in My Journal," and some good words about the life of Stafford, including this:

About his own works, Stafford once commented, "I have woven a parachute out of everything broken."

What a wonderful metaphor. We all have objects, moments, relationships in our lives that we would rather just walk away from then take the time to fix. Yet in some profound, unknowable ways, it is very often these fractured pieces of our lives that, when fashioned through creativity and language, save us. Let us remember Stafford this year as one whose
words can contribute meaningfully to our salvation.

Meeting Naomi Shihab Nye

I met Naomi Shihab Nye, a fervent Stafford devotee, at an Earlham College convocation yesterday. I wrote this after meeting her.

Naomi Shihab Nye has stricken the word "busy" from her vocabulary. "It doesn't help us do anything. It's just a word we use when we're doing everything else." Her kind host is speaking words of hurry, things to do at her. "Five minutes." And then, "other people are waiting." "It's time to go." Naomi's face says "busy" although she does not. The book signing line is dwindling, but not complete. "Tell them I will be five minutes late." I am at the front of the line, waiting, still, while the poet explains that she is busy. She reaches for my book of her poetry I bought over ten years ago, and signing it says, "It looks like I misspelled 'gratitude,'" and "Oh, I am so happy to see you have that." I am holding my well worn book from her favorite poet and mine, William Stafford. "I have a request," I say. "This is a paper I wrote. Would you like to read it?" I hand her my essay on Stafford. "I'm excited to read it, and she folds it, slips it into her coat. "Thank you." We shake hands. As I head for the door she is already talking to someone else. I am too busy to go to the reception, still I take the time to write this down.