Keep this interval for life

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life.

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

~ William Stafford

Another gorgeous passage I first saw on First Sip.

3 thoughts on “Keep this interval for life”

  1. Beautiful. It’s always what I keep in mind when I’m writing either a blog or a novel.”How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
    What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
    sound from outside fills the air?

    I want the reader to be there with me. To smell, see, and feel. To share the experience and in doing this, I too pay attention.

    But I have to admit I need to pay more attention to smell.

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