09 July 2009

a poem*

I recently became acquainted with this poem by Mary Oliver. For many reasons that are still unfolding for me, it resonates so very deeply with where I am right now.

Peace be with you.

the path
shaded path
by
kirsten.michelle
Canon 40D
14 june 2009




The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.


- Mary Oliver

5 comments:

  1. thanks so much for sharing this poem. I just emailed it to 5 loved ones...it's so appropriate for where we are in life...~M

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOVE this...thanks, Kirsten. As often, you state my heart when you state your own.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, this poem. It recently met me in my journey, as well. I think I read it on Joelle's blog right before coming to your wedding, in fact. It made it into a little file I was keeping for myself in preparation for my summer of solitude. I titled the file "The Leap." This poem articulates that leap for me so well.

    I'm glad this poem is meeting you in your journey, too, my friend. That voice that is building inside of you, the one that is your own, is needed in this world. It is needed by God to proclaim His glory.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I too feel a kindred connection to these words....thank you for posting it here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i love mary oliver... so many of her poems resonate with me, too. and a deep 'yes' to this one. the faded path conjures up these type of sentiments, too.

    nice to get a moment to stop by and catch up. miss you... blue

    ReplyDelete