There have been many happy coincidences putting this poetry quilt together. One of them has been seeing some of my favorite poets showing up, as the ones my featured poets would like to spend time with. Knowing Tony Reevy, I wasn’t surprised Wendell Berry was his choice. He was on my list to feature, so it seems fitting to follow Tony’s post with Wendell’s

. . . though I’ve never actually met Mr. Berry.

I’m forever grateful to the farmer who led me to Wendell Berry years ago, when I was still homeschooling. My ‘baby’ will be 28 this year so you know how long it’s been since I began reading Berry’s work. His poetry and fiction take up half of one shelf in one of my bookcases. I need to add his essays.

Berry’s writing influences in little ways. My cottage is my Port Williams, where time and life slow down. After reading his poetry my hands ache to go out and dig in the dirt, plant something, tend my garden. Even the name for my blog, A Writer’s Window, was inspired by his book, Window Poems. And he influences in larger ways – in the way I see things, the way I strive to live a simpler life.

Since I didn’t ask Wendell my two questions, I’ll include two of his quotes~

“Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is a party to all our deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a stricter sense of justice than we do.”

 “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred and desecrated places.”

and two links to hear him read one of the poems that I read to re-center myself.

The Peace of Wild Things, read by Wendell Berry.

The Peace of Wild Things, read by Wendell Berry.