Write About a Loss

One of my Favorite Mary Oliver Lines

I've shared Mary Oliver's poems frequently in this space.  Her poems really speak to me.  She writes about nature, interactions, observations, life, love (all the things poems should be about) without it being complicated.  She passed away this past week.  This is a loss for the writing community. 

I first learned of Mary Oliver in my church space of the art gallery.  Her poems were often shared before we blessed the space.  They were shared as a way to focus and add peace. 

Recently, I read her anthology of poems.  I truly wish there were more to come.  For dog lovers, she even wrote an entire book of dog poems.  Maybe more of her poems will be unearthed as we continue this passage through this crazy world.  RIP Mary Oliver

Everything
by Mary Oliver

I want to make poems that say right out, plainly,
what I mean, that don't go looking for the
laces of elaboration, puffed sleeves.  I want to 
keep close and use often words like
heavy, heart, joy, soon, and to cherish
the question mark and her bold sister

the dash. I want to write with quiet hands. I
want to write while crossing the fields that are
fresh with daisies and everlasting and the
ordinary grass.  I want to make poems while thinking of
the bread of heaven and the
cup of astonishment; let them be

songs in which nothing is neglected,
not a hope, not a promise.  I want to make poems
that look into the earth and the heavens
and see the unseeable.  I want them to honor
the gladness that says, without any words, everything.