Song of Benediction

The cover of Striking the Dark Air for Music.

William Pitt Root served as Tucson’s first poet laureate from 1997-2002, in the midst of his distinguished career as a poet and teacher. This early poem (from his second book) calls us to be compassionate with ourselves, to open-heartedly celebrate the body and its connection with the world. 

William Pitt Root. “Song of Benediction.” Striking the Dark Air for Music. New York: Atheneum, 1973.