Friday, September 28, 2012

the uses of sorrow

-mary oliver
from her book, thirst, beacon press, boston, 2006

mary oliver is one of my favorite contemporary poets. i received a copy of her book, thirst, in the mail today from a dear friend and spent a few hours browsing its pages under the trees down by the river with sachi dozing at my feet. i found this short poem to be quite deep in meaning. it overwhelmed me and i sat there in the shade as tears ran down my cheeks. not tears of sadness. nor of joy. but...of release. suddenly, so much made sense and was at peace...

i believe there is a story cloth in this poem. i shall have to listen to the whispers and see what emerges...

namaste'

8 comments:

  1. Poignant .... and yes, definately a cloth in those words.

    Jacky xox

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  2. Those are the special moments...
    a break through.
    emergence.
    Thank you for sharing it.
    <3

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  3. mary oliver has the ability to touch us in places we didn't know were there. she reminds me of jude a lot. different mediums.

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  4. Thank you for these lines. They perfectly describe where I'm at. I've put the book on my wish list.

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  5. I've also put the book on my list. Love your blog. Thanks.

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  6. She's just the bees knees (whatever that really means) I love her simple, profound wisdom and her elegant and keen observation of life and land, she's truly a gift to the world. Seems like the moment was ripe for you to read this and GET it. Look forward to seeing what flows from this moment in cloth...

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  7. beautiful poem. i wonder what will come of this from & for you?
    i found thoughts & tears this weekend that want to be a story cloth, too.
    take care.

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