How did I not know of Mary Oliver until I read her obituary last month? She was one of the best selling American poets with thirty books, and won a Pulitzer in 1984. She wrote crystalline images of nature that led to her observations of mortality and living a full life. I have been absorbed in her wonderful works. Some excerpts with my images follow. These small portions of her poems only hint at her profound insights.
Evidence
. . .
Memory: a golden bowl, or a basement without light.
For which reason the nightmare comes with its
painful story and says: you need to know this.
Some memories I would give anything to forget.
Others I would not give up upon the point of
death, they are the bright hawks of my life.
. . .
Evidence, 2009
Osprey a/k/a Fishhawk, Goodwin Waterfowl Management Area, Brevard County, FL
Red-shoulder hawk, Goodwin WMA
White Heron Rises Over Blackwater
. . .
or the white heron
rising
over the swamp
and the darkness,
his yellow eyes
and broad wings wearing
the light of the world
in the light of the world—
ah yes, I see him.
He is exactly
the poem
I wanted to write.
New and Selected Poems: Volume Two, 2005
Great Heron preening, St. Augustine Alligator Farm
Catbird
. . .
He is neither the rare plover or the brilliant bunting,
but as common as grass.
His black cap gives him a jaunty look, for which
we humans have learned to tilt our caps, in envy.
. . .
Owls and Other Fantasies, 2003
Catbird, Everglades National Park
Do Stones Feel?
. . .
Is the tree as it rises delighted with its many
branches,
each one like a poem?
Are the clouds glad to unburden their bundles of rain?
Most of the world says no, no, it’s not possible.
I refuse to think to such a conclusion.
Too terrible it would be, to be wrong.
Blue Horses, 2014
Oak, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, Florida
Sunset rain, Viera wetlands