Writer’s block prompted me to search for an idea for this week’s post. I turned to the poetry of Alberto Rios, 2013 Arizona poet laureate. In his poem An Instruction to Myself, I found my inspiration. Rios defined the task of a writer in the first line. His instruction suggests we “Shepherd the things of the world to the page.”
I love his word choice. The verb shepherd communicates such a gentle guidance. Now I can visualize gently guiding my thoughts into words. Thanks Alberto.
I met Alberto Rios last semester when he spoke here at GCC. He read the following poem. Perhaps sharing is the ultimate gift of a writer.
When Giving Is All We Have
One
river gives
Its journey to the next.
We give
because someone gave to us.
We give because nobody gave to us.
We give
because giving has changed us.
We give because giving could have changed us.
We have
been better for it,
We have been wounded by it—
Giving
has many faces: It is loud and quiet,
Big, though small, diamond in wood-nails.
Its
story is old, the plot worn and the pages too,
But we read this book, anyway, over and again:
Giving
is, first and every time, hand to hand,
Mine to yours, yours to mine.
You
gave me blue and I gave you yellow.
Together we are simple green. You gave me
What
you did not have, and I gave you
What I had to give—together, we made
Something greater from the difference.