Blogging about all things poetry - starting with 30 days and 30 poems |
March 11, 2018 I don't know a lot about Mary Oliver, but I have heard and read many good things. Here are a few quotes: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. She sounds like a remarkable woman and her poetry reflects that... http://peacefulrivers.homestead.com/maryoliver.html The Journey One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice-- though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do-- determined to save the only life you could save. By following your own heart you can save yourself. Make sure you do that. I love this poem and imagery it creates in me. ** Image ID #1855238 Unavailable ** |