Somehow my images from Scotland and Mary Oliver’s poetry seem to fit. If you search Mary Oliver and “ocean poem” or “the sea” or something similar, my dinky blog pops up high in the search with pictures from Scotland.
Marram Grass, Bosta Beach, Isle of Lewis and Harris
The wonderful island of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides has massive, dramatic seascapes. But I was just as enchanted by the forms, textures, colors at my feet. And these sights will be gone when the wind blows or the tide changes.
Bosta Beach
Mary Oliver lived for over half a century across the Atlantic in Provincetown on Cape Cod. Undoubtably, she was looking at her feet for some inspiration, too.
On the beach, at dawn:
four small stones clearly
hugging each other.
How many kinds of love
might there be in the world,
Tolsta Beach, Lewis and Harris
and how many formations might they make
and who am I ever
to imagine I could know
such a marvelous business?
When the sun broke
it poured willingly its light
Garry Beach, Lewis and Harris
over the stones
that did not move, not at all
Tolsta Beach, Lewis and Harris
just as, to its always generous term,
it shed its light on me,
my own body that loves
equally to hug another body.
Mary Oliver, On the Beach from A Thousand Mornings, 2012