"Thus freedom always came nibbling my thought,
just as—often, in light on the open hills--
you can pass an antelope and not know
and look back, and then—even before you see--
there is something wrong about the grass.
And then you see.
That's the way everything in the world is waiting.
Now—these few more words, and then I'm
gone: Tell everyone just to remember
their names, and remind others, later, when we
find each other."
from "A Message from the Wanderer"
by William Stafford
Painting on paper, (c) Jaya Julienne Ashmore, 2018
I was thrilled to dive into this poem on retreat in Sattal last April...especially the lines excerpted above...Below, you'll find the whole poem, from the book Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford
Today outside your prison I stand and rattle my walking stick: Prisoners, listen; you have relatives outside. And there are thousands of ways to escape.
Years ago I bent my skill to keep my cell locked, had chains smuggled to me in pies, and shouted my plans to jailers; but always new plans occurred to me,
or the new heavy locks bent hinges off,
or some stupid jailer would forget
and leave the keys.
Inside, I dreamed of constellations--
those feeding creatures outlined by stars,
their skeletons a darkness between jewels,
heroes that exist only where they are not.
Thus freedom always came nibbling my thought,
just as—often, in light on the open hills--
you can pass an antelope and not know
and look back, and then—even before you see--
there is something wrong about the grass.
And then you see.
That's the way everything in the world is waiting.
Now—these few more words, and then I'm
gone: Tell everyone just to remember
their names, and remind others, later, when we
find each other. Tell the little ones
to cry and then go to sleep, curled up
where they can And if any of us get lost,
if any of us cannot come all the way—
remember: there will come a time when all we have said and all we have hoped will be all right.
There will be that form in the grass.