A nice poem for a rainy Saturday.
Her capacity to see wonder in nature, and in life, no matter what the weather, was extraordinary
Last night
the rain spoke to me
slowly, saying,
what joy
to come falling out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again
in a new way on the earth!
That’s what it said
as it dropped,
smelling of iron,
and vanished like a dream of the ocean
into the branches
and the grass below.
Then it was over.
The sky cleared.
I was standing
under a tree.
The tree was a tree with happy leaves,
and I was myself,
and there were stars in the sky
that were also themselves at the moment,
at which moment
my right hand was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars
and the soft rain—
imagine! imagine!
the wild and wondrous journeys
still to be ours.
Mary Oliver, Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me
I was standing under our large lime tree last night, looking up at the stars … they seemed so bright after a very wet and windy day. This brought me some comfort having received the news that a close family member had passed away yesterday. And my spirits are lifted some more this morning to read this lovely Mary Oliver poem. Thank you for posting.
Thank you for posting this beautiful poem. I am very fond of Mary Olivers poems too.
I quote one verse who typifies the impossibly beautiful imagery she has :
” my right hand was holding my left hand
which was holding the tree
which was filled with stars ”
Sheer brillliance
Miriam
Beautiful! She puts the reader right there, where she is…