More Mary Oliver

Lots of time has been spent thinking about Zeus this past weekend, so lots of time has also been spent with my poetry books. In her book, Red Bird, Mary Oliver shared these three poems about her beloved dogs and lessons to learn from them. I thought they were worth sharing with you too.

Luke
by Mary Oliver

I had a dog
who loved flowers.
Briskly she went
through the fields,

yet paused
for the honeysuckle
or the rose,
her dark head

and her wet nose
touching
the face
of every one

with its petals
of silk,
with its fragrance
rising

into the air
where the bees,
their bodies
heavy with pollen,

hovered-
and easily
she adored
every blossom,

not in the serious,
careful way
that we choose
this blossom or that blossom-

the way we praise or don't praise-
the way we love
or don't love
but the way

we long to be-
that happy
in the heaven of earth
that wild, that loving.

Percy (nine)
by Mary Oliver

Your friend is coming I say
to Percy, and name a name

and he runs to the door, his
wide mouth in its laugh-shape,

and waves, since he has one, his tail.
Emerson, I am trying to live,

as you said we must, the examined life.
But there are days I wish

there was less in my head to examine,
not to speak of the busy heart. How

would it be to be Percy, I wonder, not
thinking, not weighing anything, just running forward.

I Ask Percy How I should Live My Life (ten)
by Mary Oliver

Love, love, love, says Percy,
And run as fast as you can
along the shining beach or the rubble, or the dust.

Then, go to sleep.
Give up your body heat, your beating heart.
Then, trust.

Zeus would add one more lesson to these, and that would be; whenever you can, join in the song of life with a friend, and when you do, sing with all your heart!