Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford

"In our time there has been no poet who revived human hearts and spirits more convincingly than William Stafford." --Naomi Shihab Nye

Some time when the river is ice ask me

mistakes I have made. Ask me whether

what I have done is my life.

--from "Ask Me"

In celebration of the poet's centennial, Ask Me collects one hundred of William Stafford's essential poems. As a conscientious objector during World War II, while assigned to Civilian Public Service camps Stafford began his daily writing practice, a lifelong early-morning ritual of witness. His poetry reveals the consequences of violence, the daily necessity of moral decisions, and the bounty of art. Selected and with a note by Kim Stafford, Ask Me presents the best from a profound and original American voice.