Robert Francis
Born in Upland, Pennsylvania on August 12, 1901
Robert Francis moved to Amherst, Massachusetts in 1926
after graduating from Harvard. His first book of poems
Stand Here With Me appeared in 1936.
By 1940 he began building
his home Fort Juniper on the outskirts of town, which since
the poet's passing in 1987 has become a legendary spot
and home or studio for many other poets.
Collected Poems 1936-1976 makes a fine companion.
The poem below is drawn from that collection.
I have worked with this poem with every age group,
including with strangers when reading out on the street.
It chimes.
~
SILENT POEM
backroad----leafmold---- stonewall---- chipmunk
underbrush---- grapevine---- woodchuck---- shadblow
woodsmoke---- cowbarn ----honeysuckle---- woodpile
sawhorse---- bucksaw---- outhouse---- wellsweep
backdoor ----flagstone----bulkhead---- buttermilk
candlestick---- ragrug---- firedog---- brownbread
hilltop ----outcrop---- cowbell---- buttercup
whetstone---- thunderstorm---- pitchfork----steeplebush
gristmill---- millstone ----cornmeal ----waterwheel
watercress---- buckwheat---- firefly---- jewelweed
gravestone---- groundpine ----windbreak---- bedrock
weathercock ----snowfall---- starlight---- cockrow
backroad----leafmold---- stonewall---- chipmunk
underbrush---- grapevine---- woodchuck---- shadblow
woodsmoke---- cowbarn ----honeysuckle---- woodpile
sawhorse---- bucksaw---- outhouse---- wellsweep
backdoor ----flagstone----bulkhead---- buttermilk
candlestick---- ragrug---- firedog---- brownbread
hilltop ----outcrop---- cowbell---- buttercup
whetstone---- thunderstorm---- pitchfork----steeplebush
gristmill---- millstone ----cornmeal ----waterwheel
watercress---- buckwheat---- firefly---- jewelweed
gravestone---- groundpine ----windbreak---- bedrock
weathercock ----snowfall---- starlight---- cockrow
