Poet Kim Stafford joins guest host Naomi Shihab Nye on episode 141 of The Quarantine Tapes. The former Poet Laureate of Oregon, Kim offers beautiful reflections on the meaning of poetry today. He talks about what it means to make poetry that addresses this moment and why he has shifted to sending poems out immediately. 

Naomi asks Kim about his writing practice. He compares writing to alchemy, describing the refuge that writing creates inside your own, and expresses his hope that more people will find the power of writing. Then, they talk about what it means to be a good citizen and how poetry fits into politics and community.

Our Singer Come from Afar

—for Naomi Shihab Nye

Be our wren or warbler lit in willow
swaying with your tender weight
of songs, sipping the sky to tell us
hard things from far away you
freighted for our understanding and
comfort. Sing the mysterious harmony
of news and blessing, hurt and healing
offered with head high, eye bright
until with a friendly shrug
you flit away and leave us
strangely younger.

From Singer Come from Afar, by Kim Stafford (forthcoming from Red Hen Press, 2021)

https://redhenpress.org/products/singer-come-from-afar-by-kim-stafford

Credits:

Paul Holdengraber - Co-Creator, Host, OLA Director
Anthony Audi - Co-Creator, Researcher, OLA Director
Alejandro Cohen - Co-Creator, Producer, Composer
Christian Pitt - Production Coordinator 
Erin Cooney - Copy, Production
Dublab Team