A gift of silence, a sword of wood—
here we savor strange abundance.

No sign outside, no strife inside—
we are your refuge, temple, studio.

This table, the chair where you listen—
my wife said, “Take the living room.”

Write your poem on this slab
sawn from the tree the tsunami gave:

four hundred years of wood—
four-breath song.

No shoes, no reticence. Here practice
brotherhood of the warrior and the word.


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for Jeff & Michael
Kim Stafford, 29 November 2007


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Congratulations to Kim on receiving the Stewart H. Holbrook Literary Legacy Award presented by Literary Arts in recognition of his long-term outstanding support to Oregon's literary community.