Sundays . . . Are for Poetry

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 rug
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.

--- Mary Oliver, Dream Work

Comments

[Bonny]

Thank you for sharing this very evocative poem and the stunning photo. It's the kind of poem that seems to divulge more meaning every time I read it.

[margene]

One of my very favorite Mary Oliver poems. Thank you for sharing it today!

[claudia]

Wow. Maybe its time I paid attention to poetry.

[Carole]

You know what you have to do - have you done it yet? I think about this in relation to the conversations I had with my former sister-in-law yesterday and all I can say is: YES.

[Patty]

What Claudia said. And may this poem have given you what you need these days. :-)

[Jo]

The last two days' photos are wonderful...and the poem has left me speechless.

[Mary]

"determined to save the only life you could" ...sigh, I love Mary Oliver.

[Kim]

Beautiful!! I used to love to read poetry when I was young, but somehow I have let that go over the years. This was just beautiful.