The Old Wood Floor In The Old Book Store (color) by John Ayo
You Reading This, Be Ready
~ by William Stafford
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?
(You Reading This, Be Ready, Aug. 26, 1993,
from The Way It Is, Graywolf Press, St. Paul, MN)
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