In February of 2020 I was preparing to release this collection. I had just started my job as a palliative care chaplain at a large Boston hospital. In a matter of weeks the pandemic was upon us in the Northeast and all else came to a halt.

Reading this for school. Reading this for life.

I’m thinking about impermanence.

This afternoon on my hike a flock of geese flew low over the trail.

Wherever you are tonight, and wherever you are in your own process of dying and being born, go easy if you can.

If only we could stop, and hug each other on the street, in the aisles of the grocery store late at night. Secret warriors.

 A Ritual to Read Together (Woodley Press, 2014) offers us an intimate portrait of Stafford’s legacy, from his abiding sense of place to his promotion of nonviolence to his work as a mentor and teacher. The collection takes its title from one of Stafford’s poems about the importance of listening to one another, of telling our stories. Contributors include: David Whyte, Robert Bly, Maxine Hong Kingston, Naomi Shihab Nye, Ted Kooser, and many more.

You do not know the woods

Til you’ve wandered them at night …

I was twenty-eight years old when my life fell apart.