"Things that Happen when There Aren't Any People," Poem by William Stafford

In this poem, the first stanza reminds of a suspense movie that shows an empty road on a cold night, and the camera makes a turn with the road and zooms in on "an old sign" falling. During this scene, I feel as if something bad is about to happen. I can almost hear the music that goes with the suspense; especially when the speaker mentions the word "victim" it feels as if "the traveler rain" is a murderer looking for victims. Maybe I'm going too far with this, but that's what it reminds me of. The way the speaker talks about the rain as "the traveler" humanizes the rain and gives it a persona. I know he's talking about the rain pouring on this poor sign, "...walks back and forth," but the way he says it, "over its victim," gives me this type of feeling...a sense of mystery--suspense--a scary movie--I love it! Also, William Stafford ends this first stanza with a strong image. "Flat on the mud," sounds like an aggressive act, as if the murderer (in this case "the traveler rain") got his victim and threw him/her on the ground.

In this stanza, I noticed how Stafford's line breaks are very effective. For example, the second line ends with, "At its turn," where the reader pauses and continues on the next line, "on the hill." This line break gives the same effect as if the reader was watching through a camera making a turn with the road.

In the second stanza, it sounds as if the speaker is saying that whether we are witnesses or not, whether we are in existence or non-existence, nature takes place, "You don't have to have any people when sunlight stands on the rocks..." Nature is a phenomenon that continues to live--it takes care of itself, doesn't need humans to be present. Life goes on, even in places that have been abandoned, where there aren't any people around, "Plenty of/things happen in deserted places..." I get the feeling that maybe we should go somewhere we never been before and witness how the sun shines on the rocks, how the clouds form over the hills ( if there are any) and how long the day lasts until it starts getting dark, "...the slow arrival of deep dark." There's a place out there waiting to be discovered and we're missing out.

Moreover, the line "...the slow arrival of deep dark," it's very vivid in the sense that we (the readers) can picture the place getting dim "slowly but surely" until it's completely dark. Instead of the speaker saying "night" he uses "slow," "deep" and "arrival" to describe the night, and we can actually see it coming. He closes this stanza beautifully with the image of the night--getting dark--end of the day, which is also the end of the stanza.

In the third stanza, the speaker talks about "a rock" waiting to be discovered, "...a rock has been/waiting to be mentioned for thousands of years," even where there are no people around. This line gives me a feeling of loneliness...of abandonment because there's this "rock" lost somewhere "out there in the country." This rock has been traveling unnoticed through dust and wind, "...its shadow leans, crouches/then walks away eastward..." I noticed how Stafford utilizes the word "shadow" in this line, instead of rock. By saying shadow, it gives the "rock" a sense of movement--the rock is moving. If the "shadow" leans, crouches, it means that the "rock" is traveling, it's alive.

Overall, every stanza is a whole new place where things are happening even though there are no people to witness them. The images throughout the poem, for example, "old sign sags," "great dragged clouds," "huddle of hills," "dust," "shadow" and "deep dark," provoke a feeling and/or sense of suspense, mystery (in the first stanza), loss, melancholy and at the same time, a certain calmness.

This poem made me feel the same way I felt when I came back to El Paso after being away for three years. I felt disconnected from my old friends I had left behind. I tried to reach them by phone, but some never answered and others never returned my calls. It just wasn't the same...it never was. But I got over it and moved on. Life goes on...even without old friends.