Myra here.
I am glad to be joining Poetry Friday this week once again with some Mary Oliver Love, hosted by long-time blogging friend, Irene Latham of Live Your Poem.
Swan (Amazon | Book Depository)
Poems and Prose Poems By Mary Oliver
Published by Beacon Press (2010)
ISBN: 0807068993 (ISBN13: 9780807068991). Borrowed from National Library Singapore Overdrive. Book photos taken by me and edited with an iPhone app.
One of the things I have been meaning to do since early this year when I found out Mary Oliver had died is to read all of her published works. Thankfully, the National Library Board Singapore has made this quite easy for me with most of her titles available online via Overdrive (which I still have access to, despite my being at the United Arab Emirates now, since my annual membership has still not expired, thankfully – frankly, I don’t know what I will do with myself once it does expire).
This collection is fairly thin, but still gorgeous and exquisite. Here are a few titles that spoke to me, and which I hope will also find you at the perfect time.
There is simple wisdom in Mary Oliver’s later poems that spoke of age and an evaluation of her life and how she has lived it. More than anything, I wish that when I grow up, I will be like her: paying attention to the littlest of things and appreciating a bird’s song with all its beauty and heartbreak. Here is another one:
Perhaps Mary Oliver is aware of the earth calling her back home, as can be seen in this Whispered Poem. How many of us can say this same thing: risky endeavours, steadfast loves. My heart is full.
#WomenReadWomen2019: United States of America
Lark Ascending is so lovely! I associate the name with the composition by Vaughan Williams, so it’s fun to see Mary using it as a springboard here. I like how mysterious she is to herself.
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I love the idea in Oliver’s poem, of sending a thank you to the clouds. Thank you for this post.
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Thanks for the Mary Oliver fix! Lark Ascending is beautiful. 🙂
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Yes, ‘risky and steadfast’ is what helps me live fully, Myra. Thanks for this beautiful sharing from Mary Oliver.
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I just discovered Mary Oliver in recent years and like her poetry very much. I particularly liked her “Whispered Poem” in this selection. Thank you for the share.
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Whispered Poem” is a beautiful poem that holds so much weight in only a few lines. Mary Oliver always leaves me pondering here writing. There is dept in these poems and perhaps you are right that she knew what was coming and so she wrote.
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That Whispered Poem resonates deeply with me now that I am on the far side of 60.
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Myra, I love Mary Oliver, and love this one. “I know it’s the poem I have yet to make.” Yes.
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Thanks for sharing these lovely poems. I love Mary Oliver but haven’t read all of her work yet. I especially like the Lark Ascending.
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