You Reading This, Be Ready

As  we move into graduation week at our school I have been reflecting on the group of students graduating and the time I had with them in middle school. Each of them has plans as they move into a bigger world this summer. This poem by William Stafford always gives me a lump in my throat as I think of graduation. 

You Reading This, Be Ready

William Stafford

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life -

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?