Thank You, Mary Oliver

 

“I consider myself kind of a reporter — one who uses words that are more like music and that have a choreography. I never think of myself as a poet; I just get up and write.” 

—Mary Oliver (1935-2019), poet. The winner of the Pulitzer and National Book Award died last week. “Maria Shriver Interviews the Famously Private Poet Mary Oliver,” O: The Oprah Magazine, 2011. NYTimes obit.

• Editorial Comment: Seems simple enough.


Don’t Hesitate

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
                                  —Mary Oliver

PeezPix

Cala Curl




 

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Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard