A Bag of Hammers

"If you can get dumb enough you can write marvelous poems about things that are really close to you."—William Stafford, "Some Suggestions from Experience"

What, he wondered, was "really close,"

near enough to be recognized, if seen,

and deployed, with progress made?

It could, of course, only be poetry!

What's closer to us than language,

the words that keep the world at bay?

Blunted by technology, might those belovèd fingerposts still point a way?

If so, hooray! Ignore the shilly-shallying

asininities of technology and speed

with your bag of hammers past the ding-

a-lings to the Muse's marvelous grimoire.

There’s always something, or someone,

to dumb down despite how dumb you are.

Illustration, engraved by Henry Bunbury, in Laurence Sterne's The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Confronted with Dr. Slop's pony and Dr. Slop himself on his back on the ground, with a spotted dog prancing over him, Obadiah tries to pull up his horse. A signpost with a hand points To Shandy Hall. Publish'd as the act directs 3d February 1773 by J. Bretherton, London.

Thursday, December 10, 2025