The Journey

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.

“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.

MARGINALIA

Two of my dear friends, both poets, are celebrating their birthdays today. I am not religious, but their presence in my life makes me feel blessed. Their friendship means so much to me.

But this one is especially for you, S. You’re lovely. Thank you.

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)

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, Florida, until her death in early 2019. She was 83.  ( Source )

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ENDNOTES

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