Ask Me ~ A Poem by William Stafford

What the River Knows: Listening to the Hidden Currents Within

In William Stafford’s quiet meditation “Ask Me,” the frozen river becomes a mirror for our lives — still on the surface, yet alive with unseen movement.

Ask Me

William stafford

Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into
my thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt: ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.

I will listen to what you say.
You and I can turn and look
at the silent river and wait. We know
the current is there, hidden; and there
are comings and goings from miles away
that hold the stillness exactly before us.
What the river says, that is what I say.

Source

Reflection:

William Stafford’s “Ask Me” invites us to stand beside the silent river of our own lives. Beneath its still surface flows everything we’ve ever felt, done, or regretted. When the poet says, “Ask me whether what I have done is my life,” he opens a tender space for honesty — a moment to question how our choices have shaped us and what remains beneath the surface.

The frozen river symbolizes time paused — a stillness where we can finally listen. Like Stafford, we’re reminded that the truest answers don’t come from words but from quiet awareness. The river, with its hidden current, holds our stories, regrets, and hopes — and whispers them back in its timeless language of flow and return.

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Question for Readers:

When life feels still or uncertain, what “hidden current” reminds you that movement and meaning are still flowing beneath the surface?