Reading William Stafford’s Poetry This Morning

Listening to William Stafford this morning. 

I collected poems by William Stafford by searching postings on twitter. I have found this to be a good way to find poems that people love. In this case I was trying to find which poems of William Stafford are most loved. I am posting the poems I found below. Of the ones I found on twitter, I really liked Freedom and The Way It Is. 

 Freedom is one where his voice comes alive. It’s about waking up in the morning at 4:30am and setting aside 3-3:30 hours for writing. Apparently he started this discipline in 1942 and continued the practice throughout his life. Other people would think this kind of dedication and commitment was something he forced himself to do. But for him this kind of a schedule came with intuitive ease. It was his “freedom.”  This reminds me of guru Gobind Singh’s Sanyasa in which is emphasizes “nem” or “niyam”, a regular spiritual practice. Sanyaas also implies some kind of freedom from the world. And the Guru says it’s the freedom of the mind that is important.