Finally, in May of 1988, Oregon s poet laureate moved other lines to the top of the poem, and the part about deciphering the frost moved down. Most were printed with manual presses in a technique that s changed little over the centuries. The pieces poem and prose selections made poster-size and framed for hanging are collaborations between writers, printers and artists, such as calligraphers and woodcut illustrators. The exhibit is sponsored by the English and art departments at SOU and the Friends of William Stafford, one of the country s most celebrated poets. Some of the pieces are from Stafford s collection.
People keep coming back and back.
The 64 pieces hang like paintings, both on the walls of the Thorndike Gallery and in a nearby open space with lots of light where students go scurrying by and workers are putting finishing touches on the building. Next to the working versions, it hangs in its final form, which was published by the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association of West Hills, Long Island, one in a limited edition of 100 copies. So some time let s discover how the ink feels, to be clutching all that eternity onto page after page. And you have become a rich darkness. Mail Tribune, Inc.