Even in Quiet Places
This first volume since Stafford's death three years ago at age 79 gathers works of four chapbooks published between 1990 and 1993. Stafford's second book of poems, Traveling through the Dark, won a National Book Award in 1962. Through 50 books in 30 years his themes and style matured with no major course changes. In the poems gathered here, he recalls the past, his childhood and family: "Those bells in the heart, that dulcimer,/ and the days walking beside you, their glances/ level, equal-permanent moments..." He writes of rocks, birds, trees, dreams, his pacifism and American heritage, using reflection on the natural world and the present moment in it to illuminate an understanding of a larger condition: "-this tranquil/ chaos that seems to be going somewhere./ This wilderness with a great peacefulness in it./ This motionless turmoil, this everything dance." The title of this accomplished collection is drawn from a series of "poetry highway signs" written for the U.S. Forest Service: "Water likes to sing. If you leave it alone,/ even in quiet places, it'll talk a little/ to itself..." Stafford's poetry urges us to listen.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.