A Poet to Cherish

Every day / I see or hear/ something/ that more or less/kills me/with delight. (Mary Oliver)

Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets. She makes ordinary things come alive and brings a spiritual dimension to nature. She has only to take a walk in the woods and she sees a grasshopper or a bee or a flower and is transported into ecstasy. Her poems are very accessible, no elaborate words or elongated terminology.

Her poetry is meditative and calming, often like a prayer. Even people who think they don’t like poetry, like Mary Oliver. One reviewer wrote, “Mary Oliver’s poetry is an excellent antidote for the excesses of civilization…she is a poet of wisdom and generosity whose vision allows us to look intimately at a world not of our making.”  

This 20th century poet has received many honors for her poetry including the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Although Mary Oliver died last year, she left behind a treasury of poetry to nourish and delight her readers. One of my favorites is:

Praying

It doesn’t have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones, just

pay attention, then patch

 a few words together and don’t try

 to make them elaborate, this isn’t

 a contest but the doorway

 into thanks, and a silence in which

 another voice may speak.

                            from Thirst, 37