I discovered this poem on the poets.org web site earlier this week. Below is a quote from it. Please visit the poets.org web site to read the rest of “Freedom, Revolt, and Love” by Frank Stanford. I did not know much about his background. As I read what he had done during his life, I figured he must have been alive a long time to get all of that done — writing poetry books, starting a business, creating a poetry press — and was surprised to see that he died at the age of 26.
Read on and enjoy the poem. Here’s a link to the Alsop Review web site with links to poems from his books.
…The man and the woman looked at them.
They didn’t say anything.
The man and the woman moved closer to each other,
The round table between them.
The stove was still on and burned the empty pot.
She started to get up.
One of them shot her.
She leaned over the table like a schoolgirl doing her lessons.
She thought about being beside him, being asleep.
They took her long gray socks
Put them over the barrel of a rifle
And shot him….
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Stanford’s approach to poetry was very powerful.
If you get the chance, listen to Lucinda Williams’ song “Pineola” – from Sweet Old World. It’s about Stanford. Her world, growing up, was a magnificent world of poetry – through her father Miller Williams.
Thank you. I love William’s music. I’ll see if we have that album.
You can get from some places Frank Stanford’s book:
The Battlefield where the Moon Says I Love You
It is an amazing and brilliant book.
I believe Frank Stanford died at age 29, not 26, but your comment about his high productivity and the quality of his work is true nonetheless!