William Stafford is a poet who is new to me, but he was incredibly prolific, despite beginning his career late: at 48 (I turn 48 this year!) he published his first major collection of poetry.
Why not this poem, this pseudo-sonnet, for the first Friday in Lent?
You, Reading This, Be Ready
Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life—What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?
. — William Stafford
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