Friday, January 18, 2019

RIP - Mary Oliver

Sleeping in the Forest 

I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds.
I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
among the branches of the perfect trees.
All night I heard the small kingdoms
breathing around me, the insects,
and the birds who do their work in the darkness.
All night I rose and fell, as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.
— Mary Oliver

“I Worried"

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?


Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.” 

~Mary Oliver

 

This week I was sad to hear of Mary Oliver's passing. She is a favorite poet of mine and I am guessing some of the rest of you love her poetry too. Here are two poems that I have enjoyed this week.

Have a dear, special weekend, my friends!    Peace be with you!         

 

6 comments:

Mary said...

Having trouble commenting here this morning Marilyn - that 'not a robot' thing where you have to check so many photo boxes keeps coming up - not sure you will see this!

Yes, her poetry was special - I was saddened to hear of Mary' s death.

Marilyn Miller said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tea Vibes said...

wow. what a beautiful poem. and also, wow...what a gorgeous blog. we just ran across your blog and truly enjoy the content. :)

Lorrie said...

Mary Oliver wove magic with her words. She is one of my favourite poets and I'm saddened that there will be no more of her work.

Jeanie said...

I knew you would write about Mary Oliver. And I'm so glad you did. She was a national treasure.

Tracy said...

"And took my old body and went out into the morning, and sang." Oh... how much she taught us how to live, and to live in wonder, and how to appreciate the natural world... Such wisdom and vision! I've long loved Mary Oliver's poetry, which spoke to me in so many ways, during some many different chapters of my life. She will be missed... Thankfully her words and wonder will live on! I was late to the very sad news of her passing, I've been under the weather and in a cold fog... catching up when I can.. ((HUGS))