Kim Stafford

Kim Stafford (1949- ) is a writer in Oregon who teaches and travels to raise the human spirit. He founded the Northwest Writing Institute in 1986, and co-founded the Fishtrap Writers Gathering in 1987. He is the author of a dozen books of poetry a prose, including Having Everything Right: Essays of Place, and As the Sky Begins to Change (April 2024). Kim is the son of poet William Stafford.

Meeting Halfway

Behold this empty space

between your certainty and mine,

this arena of sunlight free

of claim and counter claim,

this bright meadow where no one

has shouted, bullied, or begged,

where butterflies are sovereign,

where birdsong is our legislation,

where you and I could walk

out into the open, look around,

and speak—first of the children,

then of our dreams, and only then

of the work we will do together.

— Kim Stafford