The snow
began here
this morning and all day
continued, its white
rhetoric everywhere
calling us back to why, how,
whence such beauty and what
the meaning; such
an oracular fever! flowing
past windows, an energy it seemed
would never ebb, never settle
less than lovely! and only now,
deep into night,
it has finally ended.
The silence
is immense,
and the heavens still hold
a million candles, nowhere
the familiar things:
stars, the moon,
the darkness we expect
and nightly turn from. Trees
glitter like castles
of ribbons, the broad fields
smolder with light, a passing
creekbed lies
heaped with shining hills;
and though the questions
that have assailed us all day
remain — not a single
answer has been found –
walking out now
into the silence and the light
under the trees,
and through the fields,
feels like one.
~Mary Oliver~
excerpted from American Primitive
Those who are familiar with Mary Oliver’s poetry know that she has a deep and abiding love of nature. It’s one that I share, hence I am often drawn to her poetry. At the conclusion of the poem, the statement: “feels like one”, I believe she is saying it feels like an answering. Said another way, amidst the quiet majestic beauty and stillness of nature there are no unanswered questions. Immersed in the wonder around you suddenly there are no questions left. It is a union with nature that is so brimming with the wholeness that you and everything else is. What’s left but to happily lose yourself inside that world, devoid of questions now, awash in a knowing and an ineluctable sense of how incredible it is to bear witness to this amazing world and yourself in it.
I love your comments on the poem Beth. I know this “brimming with wholeness” that you speak of. Reading this now makes me want to just spend my days meandering through a forest and filling my thirsts by a winding brook.
Amy, maybe as you sleep at night, there’s a you who meanders through the forest, maybe while you sit at your desk, or walk to your car, or sit down to have dinner tonight there’s a you deep in the forest brimming in her wholeness. Love you, Beth
So funny…I didn’t remember this post and came her to post a comment on how beautiful your writing is here. Then I click on Comment and see I already said so…you are so a poet <3
:) This Mary Oliver poem inspired me Amy. I saw that I posted it exactly one year ago, so I thought good timing to post it again, especially as the storms creep across the U.S. Missed us, tho we’ve been c-c-c-c-c-c-COLD! xo
Felt to me like though those assailing questions remained unanswered, probably the biggest one was answered, the ‘who am I’…….union with nature’s essence………..and from which all the other important questions eventually are answered. Mary Oliver’s poem was beautifully read after a yoga session, and came so beautifully through to me.
A search for some Mary Oliver poetry led me to your blog, Beth. It’s a lovely space and your thoughts and sources are very aligned with what I choose to focus on in this life-path. Insightful comments on the First Snow poem. Wishing you a delightful holiday season!
Thank you so much Rev. Bronte. Many blessings to you this holiday season.
[...] hundreds of people blog poetry! Here is a blog called “simply blessed”; the url is http://simplyblessed.heartsdeesire.com/2009/12/09/811/. I include it because it offers a wonderful example of what a poetry blog can offer. The brief, [...]