The Poetry Stash: 10Feb2024

“Traveling Through the Dark” by William Stafford

Today’s poem is “Traveling Through the Dark” by William Stafford from the collection The Darkness Around Us Is Deep, Selected Poems of William Stafford. The book is available for purchase here.

Traveling Through the Dark by William Stafford

Traveling through the dark I found a deer
dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.
It is usually best to roll them into the canyon:
that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.

By the glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car
and stood by the heap, a doe, a recent killing;
she had stiffened already, almost cold.
I dragged her off; she was large in the belly.

My fingers touching her side brought me the reason—
her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,
alive, still, never to be born,
beside that mountain road I hesitated.

The car aimed ahead its lowered parking lights;
under the hood purred the steady engine.
I stood in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red;
around our group I could hear the wilderness listen.

I thought hard for us all—my only swerving—
Then pushed her over the edge into the river.

Prompts:

1.	Begin with “Traveling through the dark…”
2.	Begin with “I hesitated…”
3.	Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision.
4.	In the poem, the speaker hears “the wilderness listen.” Describe humanity’s relationship with the natural world or the natural world’s relationship with humans. Imagine the conversation between the two.
5.	Narrate an event that happened while you were driving at night or in a storm or something unexpected occurred. Give the location a specific name like Stafford labels the road “Wilson River road.”

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