As I still lick my election wounds and get ready for Waffle Shop, I was moved the other day by a poem from the new Mary Oliver collection just out. The collection is from Beacon Press entitled Swan: Poems and Prose Poems.
The poem, posted below, takes me back to my Colorado quiet retreat. Quiet is a good thing, you know? ;-)
How I Go to the Woods
Ordinarily I go to the woods alone, with not a single
friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore
unsuitable.
I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of
praying, as you no doubt have yours.
Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
unhearable sound of the roses singing.
**
If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love
you very much.
Mary Oliver
from Swan: Poems and Prose Poems
Beacon Press 2010
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