I keep meaning to mention that Thursday was William Stafford’s birthday.  He was a wonderful poet, born in the town of Liberal, Kansas in 1914.  He died in 1993 and has in the habit of writing a poem a day.  On the day he died, his daily poem included the line: “‘You don’t have to be good,’ my mother said, ‘just be ready for what God sends.'”

One of my personal favorites is:

The Way It Is

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change.  But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.