Friday, March 16, 2012
Need Simple Courage? Read this poem...
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 starts 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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By Mary Oliver
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photo found at daisy_nook_005_1024
I am very glad to see that you are back. Regards
ReplyDelete"and there was a new voice"
ReplyDeleteand this is what we discover, when we finally "see" and are able to distinguish, I am thrilled at the simplicity of expression which gives pleasing and easy ambiance to the poem.
I am also very content now to "be back." -- especially to see that you are glad. :)
ReplyDeleteHow helpful, also for the way you spell out what you like and notice in poetry -- Dar Sahib. This specificity and your love of simplicity helps me to do what I am best at noticing -- and do so better. :)