Notes From Gary Snyder Speaking At Reed College

60 Years After Graduation

 

The ghosts of trees in their stumps are gone.

The stumps are gone & the world has passed on.

 

Long before we arrived here, many saw what was coming.

 

Several old friends started me on my path.

One was named Philip.

 

One was named Lew.

We considered him the most talented among us.

 

I climbed Mt. Hood thirteen times. There’s no good excuse for that.

 

When you cross the river,

You no longer need the raft.

 

 

27 July 2011

 

 

[Published in The Groundless Ground: Poems 2010-2014.

© 2014 by Jim Cohn.]