Does poetry matter?

[Larry Robinson]

Dear poetry lovers,
	I don't know what poetry means to you. William Stafford's poem below says it best for me. I am writing to appeal to you to support our local (Sonoma County) efforts to make poetry accessible to everyone. As you may know, Sonoma County's Poet Laureate serves for two years without compensation or even financial assistance. 
	To further the work of sowing the seeds of poetry we have established a small fund to reimburse the Poet Laureate - currently Katherine Hastings - for her expenses. The Sebastopol Center for the Arts has agreed to act as fiscal sponsor for the fund. You can visit their website at http://sebarts.org/index.php/literary-arts/poet-laureate to make a tax-deductible contribution to making the world safe for poetry. I thank you in advance.
Larry



Poetry

Its door opens near. It's a shrine
by the road, it's a flower in the parking lot
of The Pentagon, it says, "Look around,
listen. Feel the air." It interrupts
international telephone lines with a tune.
When traffic lines jam, it gets out
and dances on the bridge. If great people
get distracted by fame they forget
this essential kind of breathing
and they die inside their gold shell.
When caravans cross deserts
It is the secret treasure hidden under the jewels.

Sometimes commanders take us over, and they
try to impose their whole universe,
how to succeed by daily calculation:
I can't eat that bread.

	- William Stafford
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