It’s the last day of National Poetry Month so I wanted to give you some bits of a Mary Oliver poem I discovered on January 11th of this year, on the plane headed to Provincetown–“The Journey,” which you can find in Dream Work, a wonderful collection published in 1986.
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
And here’s another bit of it.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly recognized as your own…
~
365 true things about me
why this daily practice
Such a fan of Mary Oliver… 🙂
Bri, I am becoming one… Welcome to Catching Days. I hope you’ll be back.
I needed these words, this reminder.
Me too, Amanda. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and thanks for sharing. Have a wonderful day.
My doctor prescribed this poem to me 5 years ago. Read it every day, twice a day, for at least 90 days, she said. Best medicine ever.
Wow, Marielle. Very cool doctor. Makes me want to go read it again right now.