I am a Mary Oliver fan! I think she is an amazing poet. I immensely enjoyed reading all the poems and Paul's essay and listening to Mary read some of her own work on video. I have to confess that exploring her web site was a new and wonderful experience. (Why I hadn't done that before is a mystery to me!) Coleman Barks shared the stage with her on one video, and he asked the audience to feel sorry for him because his assignment was to ask her questions. He said that was hard because he felt such assent to each line. (I'm with him on that point.) He finally asked her if she really meant to ask such big questions in her poems. For instance, "What are you going to do?" She immediately said yes, adding that she would like people to understand that sitting with big questions is necessary and valuable. (I’m with her on this point.) I once went on a retreat with a leader who began our 8 days of silence with the question, “Who do you say Jesus is?” He said not to feel like it was a Q&A test question. Rather, sit with it. Let it stir around in your heart. This approach has certainly helped me immensely. God, I keep discovering, is in no hurry. So Mary Oliver’s use of big questions delights me. (It has occurred to me that an interesting paper might be titled “The questions in Mary Oliver’s poetry.”) Of course, I also appreciate how she catches and defines startling moments—her shoulders covered with snowy stars, the miracle of kindness shown by black ducks sheltering sanderlings, and even her own reflection about the times her body whispered that she had seen Jesus. Mary Oliver, I think, has done a stunning job of letting the big questions stir her heart and mind, and we, eager readers of her poetry, are the beneficiaries of her long conversations with God.
It is not very difficult to see how Mary Oliver celebrates the wonders of creation in Thirst. So I sincerely appreciate the connections Paul makes regarding the tension between God and Earth in her book Thirst. The full circle he wrote about in his conclusion seems to show not only Mary’s growth in God but also to offer us a biblical pattern to follow--seeing “her on such a spiritual journey which leads through Earth to God and back to Earth.” Because we notice and care about the earth, we pray; our prayerful, grace filled connections empower us to care more deeply. The fruit is plain to see as she expresses wholeness in her poem from her book Red Bird.
“For truly the body needs / a song, a spirit, a soul. And no less, to make this work, / the soul has need of a body, / and I am both of the earth and I am of the inexplicable / beauty of heaven / where I fly so easily, so welcome, yes, / and this is why I have been sent, to teach this to your heart.”
Coming round one more time, rereading so much, I am blessed yet again because I never "get it all." Every rereading helps me hear in new ways so that my heart can learn, so I can celebrate with those who say yes to the truth of her beautiful words, and so I can grow in my love of the silence, of the mystery, and learn as Mary has learned to be loved and to love more. Amen!
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