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Sunday, March 21, 2021

Poetry Ponderings

 

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.

~Mary Oliver, "Wild Geese," from Wild Geese, 2004


Today is World Poetry Day. I spent some time today listening to the audio of Mary Oliver reading selected poems. At Blackwater Pond, the CD, was released in 2011, but today was the first day I listened to the selected works. The poem I shared a selection from is one of my favorites of Mary Oliver's poems. I kind of feel like I say that about several of her poems, so maybe I don't actually have a favorite. However, at this time, in this space within my life, her words continue to be words that reflect the way I see the world. That is why, I think, I've always felt so connected to her poetry. It is the reason I one day decided to write a poem as an adult. The way she describes her observations, the ordinary of life, but in a way that makes it feel extraordinary because, really, every breath taken is extraordinary. 


What is it about a pebble and a drop of rain? 

Is it that they exist? 

Is it that we can touch them? 

Is it that they would be here whether we were or not? 

Or is it the way the sun sends a sparkle?

Or how minerals compress and transform?

Or when we are there, how we witness their presence?

These are just poetry ponderings. 





4 comments:

  1. Lovely! I really like the last line...poetry ponderings.

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  2. I adored your question poem, Betsy. I can tell it grew from a place of fierce wonderings.

    And now I'm wondering... are you going to do your April line of poetry project on social media? (I'm always a fan.)

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  3. I'm going to have to try to track down this CD. I love listening to poets read their poems and this is one I have not heard of before. I always enjoy listening to Billy Collins read his in A Performance at Peter Norton Symphony Space and Maya Angelou has several collections available in audiobook in which she reads her poems.

    I enjoyed your poetry pondering too!

    So many delights in today's stop. Thanks!

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Thanks for the comment love!