Sunday, September 05, 2004

a spot of poetry...

I have a deep and abiding love for the poetry of Mary Oliver, she inspires me and takes my breath away. So i thought I'd share one of her poems today. (I just bought one of her books on sale at Munro's this afternoon and fell in love again.) this is one of my favourites:

You are young. So you know everything. You leap
into the boat and begin rowing. But, listen to me.
Without fanfare, without embarrassment, without
any doubt, I talk directly to your soul. Listen to me.
Lift the oars from the water, let your arms rest, and
your heart, and heart's little intelligence, and listen to
me. There is life without love. It is not worth a bent
penny, or a scuffed shoe. It is not worht the body of a
dead dog nine days unburied. When you hear, a mile
away and still out of sight, the churn of the water
as it begins to swirl and roil, fretting around the
sharp rocks--when you hear that unmistakable
pounding--when you feel the mist on your mouth
and sense ahead the embattlement, the long falls
plunging and steaming--then row, row for you life
toward it.

2 comments:

Leon said...

That's a nice poem. The sales at Munro's are great aren't they?

samara said...

Thanks, yeah, I love those sales. I've bought quite a few books (that I might not exactly need) due to those sales. ;)