AUDIO: MountainWord reads Mary Oliver
For all those who thought poetry is too inaccessible, too distant, too refined and tough to understand, try some Mary Oliver poems.
Her pure, clear poems are a delight; they show sharp attention to details of nature.
We see in some of her poems a kind of transcendental melding of the human with nature.
Listen to a MountainWord reading of Oliver’s poem “The Lilies Break Open Over the Dark Water”:
1:27 minutes
The Lilies Break Open Over the Dark Water
by Mary Oliver
Inside
that mud-hive, that gas-sponge,
that reeking
leaf-yard, that rippling
dream-bowl, the leeches’
flecked and swirling
broth of life, as rich
as Babylon,
the fists crack
open and the wands
of the lilies
quicken, they rise
like pale poles
with their wrapped beaks of lace;
one day
they tear the surface,
the next they break open
over the dark water.
And there you are
on the shore,
fitful and thoughtful, trying
to attach them to an idea —
some news of your own life.
But the lilies
are slippery and wild—they are
devoid of meaning, they are
simply doing,
from the deepest
spurs of their being,
what they are impelled to do
every summer.
And so, dear sorrow, are you.
ENDNOTES
Click here to buy the book “Blue Iris: Poems and Essays” by Mary Oliver
Listen to a sample from “At Blackwater Pond: Mary Oliver reads Mary Oliver,” the first-ever Mary Oliver recording.
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Robert Hass, Philip Schultz — and Bob Dylan — win Pulitzers
Robert Hass (for his book “Time and Materials”) and Philip Schultz (for his book called “Failure”) won Pulitzers on Monday for poetry, and Bob Dylan received a special music citation for his “profound impact on popular music and American culture.'’
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Poet laureates are popping up all over: Aaron Anstett has been named poet laureate of Pikes Peak. He’s a University of Iowa grad and works as a tech writer. He has three books out, and has been published in journals like wordforword and The New Hampshire Review. The Colorado Springs Gazette says he “has all the zeal of a preacher.” He plans to put poetry in unexpected places — in doctor’s offices or the DMV, for example.
