Do you know Mary Oliver? In the span of three days, I've heard three different speakers at three different events quote three different Mary Oliver poems. I didn't even know this person existed before Thursday. The three poems I've heard were profound and lovely. I recommend you read her.
Being the slightly-compulsive shopper that I am, I rushed out tonight to buy some Mary Oliver. Get this: she's won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. I guess I'm not hiding my ignorance here on this blog. She had almost an entire shelf at Borders. When your poetry volumes are miniscule, that's a lot of books. At the risk of offending Mary with some copyright infringements, here's her poem The Journey. I'm displaying it here as educational material, as I do consider this blog as Stefani's Classroom. I believe educational purposes are a basis for self-defense in a copyright trial.
The Journey by Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
through 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.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations---
though their melancholy
was terrible.
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,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do---
determined to save
the only life you could save.
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