The Unmistakeable Wisdom of Mary Oliver
Today’s message is short and sweet. After all, there isn’t much to say after a Mary Oliver poem, but plenty to contemplate. This poem is for anyone going through life changes, big or small.
You need tools for change? Or tools for anything? Or comforting words? Turn to Mary Oliver. She is one of the wisest women I know.
Mary Oliver writes for the soul in us. She writes prose. She writes poetry. She even writes about how to write. She’s everything, all in one.
She writes the best bedtime stories. I have her on my nightstand. In thirty seconds, or a minute or two or three, I read a poem of hers, and I am off to a blissful slumber. In those moments, my day fades, no matter what it has been.
Mary Oliver lifts me up. Calms me down. Her words make me smile. Her poetry moves me into my heart if I have forgotten for a moment to be there.
From West Wind (Part 2)
You are young. So you know everything. You leap into the boat and begin rowing. But listen to me. Without fanfare, without embarrassment, without any doubt, I talk directly to your soul. Listen to me. Lift the oars from the water, let your arms rest, and your heart, and heart’s little intelligence, and listen to me. There is life without love. It is not worth a bent penny, or a scuffed shoe. It is not worth the body of a dead dog nine days unburied. When you hear, a mile away and still out of sight, the churn of the water as it begins to swirl and roil, fretting around the sharp rocks – when you hear that unmistakable pounding – when you feel the mist on your mouth and sense ahead the embattlement, the long falls plunging and steaming – then row, row for your life toward it. ~ Mary Oliver ~Tags: In Care of Relationships, Mary Oliver, relationship, relationships, Terri Crosby, West Wind
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Terri Crosby
Helping you create life-affirming, ever-evolving, happier relationships with those you love. Follow me on twitter at@TerriCrosby or read myblog.
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I love this – so descriptive and relatable. Thank you for sharing!
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