Marengo

##### MarengoMary Oliver

Out of the sump rise the marigolds.

From the rim of the marsh, muslin with mosquitoes,

rises the egret, in his cloud-cloth.

Through the soft rain, like mist, and mica,

the withered acres of moss begin again.

When I have to die, I would like to die

on a day of rain–

long rain, slow rain, the kind you think will never end.

And I would like to have whatever little ceremony there might be

take place while the rain is shoveled and shoveled out of the sky,

and anyone who comes must travel, slowly and with thought,

as around the edges of the great swamp.

###### MARGINALIA

Working as usual. I just want to lie in bed and never wake up, but reality persists, as well as other grown-up stuff I wish I’m not obliged to deal with. Listening to The Everly Brothers and feeling sleepy all the same. I read this poem earlier. I haven’t smoked in days. More than a week, I think.

###### ABOUT MARY OLIVER

Mary Oliver was born and raised in Maple Hills Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Oliver’s poetry won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and a Lannan Literary Award for lifetime achievement. Her last books included A Thousand Mornings (2012), Dog Songs (2013), Blue Horses (2014), Felicity (2015), Upstream: Selected Essays (2016), and Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver (2017). Oliver lived in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Hobe Sound,… [(more)](#)

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