For My Young Friends Who Are Afraid Poem by William Stafford
For My Young Friends Who Are Afraid
There is a country to cross you will
find in the corner of your eye, in
the quick slip of your foot--air far
down, a snap that might have caught.
And maybe for you, for me, a high, passing
voice that finds its way by being
afraid. That country is there, for us,
carried as it is crossed. What you fear
will not go away: it will take you into
yourself and bless you and keep you.
That's the world, and we all live there.
A great summarization of life, and what it means to have the freedom to go where we please, it can be a perfect metaphor for those who graduate from high school or post secondary and are now independent, true freedom is both liberating and terrifying, but to be the master of your own destiny is enough to make it a wonderful country to belong. A wonderful work.
Poetic meaning? Living in our country is like walking on a cliff ledge? And that our own fear will keep us from falling..... Only wish I knew the year he wrote this - what with FDR's famous proclamation 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself...' being a sure contender for Stafford's impetus...
Like a true elder and poetic friend, Stafford's great vision and life experience fashions a verbal sea-worthy vessel for the reader. No swimming is necessary.
it is so true. this face is a shadow too the real me i hide from light
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/21/2024 4:08:10 PM # 1.0.0.1119
The way this poem is read on thhis page is simply atrocious.