His pandemic poems helped me get through the Covid years, and his newer work helps me get through each day.
There are two Kim Stafford poems in particular that have resonated in deep and meaningful ways for me. The first, "Resilience," is included in my book. The second, "Be Alive," is a newer poem. Both are tacked up on a wall in my home so I can get to them easily whenever I'm having trouble putting one foot in front of the other.
Resilience
Resilience is not being strong
as iron, but perennial as grass.
Resilience is not standing fast
in storms, but seeking to understand
how old trees, deep-rooted, bend.
Resilient is the one who whispers
at darkest hours, This, too, shall pass.
Resilience begins in knowing sorrow,
and ends in finding how to tell its tale.
Resilience says in tough trouble, I wonder
what we’ll learn. To be resilient, juggle
strength with tenderness, in compassion
stern. Resilience lives through struggle
by thinking beyond the struggle:
What does my foe need to be
my friend? Resilience means
you need not win, and yet prevail.
Be Alive
Sometimes you see it on the street
among the many pedestrian pedestrians
dragged by errands, slouching toward work-
this one youth skipping with joy.
Or in the store where shoppers lean on carts
heaped with plunder, one bright-eyed,
gray-haired wisp of woman humming,
buoyant in the baking aisle.
Don't die before you die. It's possible, even
in dark days to wake in wonder, lift your gaze,
make them stare, amaze the sleeping multitudes
by how you swim through the air.
I share these poems in hopes that, like me, you will feel inspired to look for the light on the dark days and maybe even find a way to shine it in the direction of others.
Thank you, Kim, for the reminder to try.
