Every War Has Two Losers: William Stafford on Peace and War Book

I was searching for some volume of Wm Stafford poems, to get me back to a more raw form of poetry I had been writing during my undergrad years at U-of-M.

Back in the 1980s, in a Stephen Dunning co-lead anthropology class n(the writing section) I was chaffing under his arbitrary rules, such as: use of english words of germanic etymology AND POINTS OFF ("deducted" would have red ink all over it) for french derivative words.

Next term I signed up for a poetry writing class (creative writing classes were my "out-breath"); Dunn's section was the only one that fit my schedule of required classes. Dunn's class was a practice of stripping down to the heart of a poem and learning to read one's poems. This was good work.

One week a friend and fellow poet, William Stafford, joined Dunn's class and a few students were invited to Dunn's home for two evenings of reading and critiquing. I am as fortunate today as I was then to have been invited.

I had finally written a poem that was sound and feeling with out directed or constructed edifice. It was well received. Still, I was frustrated by not even understanding the meaning of my own poem. The next evening Stafford said pieces of it had inspired him and he had written another poem from a few lines of mine. This was more than a nice compliment; it was an invitation into the company of poets--much like the comaraderie among folk singers and storytellers. I wish I had his version. I still have mine, AND I wanted to write like that again.