Carol Peters & William Stafford

what if the ogre is after all benign
the pen blunt and slow-moving

          the beat of the dance
          the face of the girl
          all there is

rock and hum and later silence
soft singing

More William Stafford:

maybe the process of writing that I'd be interested in would be acquiring the knack of allowing the rejected cornerstones to become the cornerstones . . .

allowing those things that do not seem to have immediate negotiable relevance to have their right place in the real valid economy of your life. They're there waiting, but they don't have big voices, so you don't call on them . . .

the poem . . . is part of myself that I am keeping