Monday, June 2, 2025

Shakespeare's Flow

(At the Oregon Shakespeare Festival,
Ashland, Oregon)


Lithia Creek pours out
of Oregon springs and stair-step-
rolls over dark boulders.

Its braided riffles ruffle foam,
then ease into pools. All
the trees--alder, cedar, oak,

fir, sycamore--drip dappled light
on the eager stream. It's a big
creek, known to flood,

and as it flattens, it runs
through Ashland, where
Shakespeare's plays

migrated to Far West 90
years ago and found stages
in a snug valley. Shakespeare's

language, rhythms, wit, wonder,
and knowing pour forth from
an eternal spring, it seems,

and feed streams of drama
& reading round and round
the planet--in how many idioms?

hans ostrom 2025

No comments: