Usually I just type or paste the poem in this space. But today I want to point out one thing (among many) that drew me to this poem. Like Rilke in Archaic Torso of Apollo, Mary Oliver breaks the poetic fourth wall (albeit in the middle of her poem rather than at the end) with an apostrophe to her dear reader: "Have you noticed?" So: have you?
Mary Oliver
The physicality of the religious poets should not
be taken idly. He or she, who loves God, will
look most deeply into His works. Clouds are not
only vapor, but shape, mobility, silky sacks of
nourishing rain. The pear orchard is not only
profit, but a paradise of light. The luna moth,
who lives but a few days, sometimes only a few
hours, has a pale green wing whose rim is like a
musical notation. Have you noticed?
We had a dog once that adored flowers; no mat-
ter how briskly she went through the fields, she
must stop and consider the lilies, tiger lilies, and
other blossoming things along her way. Another
dog of our household loved sunsets and would
run off in the evenings to the most western part
of the shore and sit down on his haunches for
the whole show, that pink and peach colored
swollenness. Then home he would come trot-
ting in the alpenglow, that happy dog.
From: Mary Oliver, Thirst (Boston: Beacon Press, 2006), p. 7.
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