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Mary Oliver, (1935-2019) The Journey

(Mary Oliver died January 17. In this fast news culture we hear of the death of every minor pop star, every idiot politician...I suspect, like me, most of us were not aware of this passing, one of the most loved and influential poets of our lives. No mention on the evening news or the mainstream media. This makes me very sad. To celebrate her fabulous life and work, I have chosen one of the many poems by her which has shaped my life, and perhaps yours too.)

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.

Editing stage: 

Comments

Inspiring.
Would look into her other works.
Thank you for introducing me to this poetess and sharing this very piece Mark.

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

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in your thread Mark I found as I was googling her works. There were so many readings by here and many videos by her but loved this the most as it shows her humorous mood as she was reading.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsr3ZZzH-MA

❤❤❤❤❤❤

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words
........Robert Frost☺

Please follow me on Instagram
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Oliver has sold more books of poems than all the American poets combined (second is Billy Collins) She is the most known poet here since Frost. Pulitzer Prize, and a great great book about the craft of writing poems. Her work is extraordinary in that she is both complex and accessible at the same time. People who never read poetry like her, poets like her.
Most of her work, or perhaps her best, is the way she takes nature and joins it to her life, her presence, her mission.
It am very happy to introduce you to her, you will love her.

Eumolpus
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance
ee cummings

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