One of the things I wanted to do this year was to reconnect with poetry. I had immensely enjoyed digging out lesser known poems or discovering new poets when I used to post Versedays on my old blog a few years ago. The blog fell to disuse, and I forgot all about Versedays. But now I want to resurrect that old joy, and what better poet to begin with than Mary Oliver.
Both SM and Vishy have recommended this poet to me over and over again, and it’s only now that I finally read some of her verses. I usually prefer older poetry to modern ones but Mary is definitely an exception. She is America’s highly respected, and intensely loved poet who continues to write marvellous poems at the very young age of 82. I have only read a few so far, and I revelled in the way her poems just wrapped themselves around me, hugging me. They have a certain transcendence, a luminescence about them even though they deal with the most mundane of topics. Here, I post one such, which I felt was warm and meditative at the same time. Enjoy!
Why I Wake Early
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
