Friday, October 14, 2011

Two Poets Who Love the Earth

[image from google:  aarp.org]


The interesting prompt at dVerse is to take a poem you like from a published poet,
and to write your own poem, imitating its idea, format or meter. I chose Wild Geese by Mary Oliver, because I am fascinated by the meter and the feeling of the lines, which always puts me in some sort of a trance.

Here is Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles
through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal
of your body
love what it loves.

Tell me about your despair,
and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile, the world goes on.
Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile, the wild geese high in the clean blue air
are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese,
harsh and exciting -
over and over
announcing your place
in the family of things.

Wow. So good, hey? My poem follows:

ALL YOU NEED TO BE

You do not have to be Superwoman

You do not have to leap tall buildings
with a single bound


You only have to get through
this one intricately challenging
and slightly preposterous day
with as much grace and humour as possible


Tell me how hard it is,
sometimes,
to just keep going
and I will hear you


Meanwhile the myriad galaxies spin
in their mystical and so mysterious orbits
across a midnight sky bejeweled with diamonds.


Meanwhile the generous sun comes up each morning
offering a brand new day for trying
Meanwhile all beings in the cosmos
arise and go about their single day of solitary living


Whoever, you are, whatever your state of being,
the world awaits your constant co-creation -
issues you a blank canvas that cries out for
all the vibrant colors of your day,
you the living paintbrush, to draw forth
all your fire and fortitude and passion
and your deep, sweet peacefulness
at resting in the life that is oh so sweetly
and familiarly
yours

14 comments:

  1. ah sherry - i love your poem - love that you have superwoman in it....and that you tell us we don't have to be...needed to hear this....resting in the life that is sweetly and familiarly yours...great closure...taking a deep breath...thanks for a wonderful poem

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  2. nice...love it...the co-creation...yes we play a role we just have to accept it....this is a very endearing and wise poem...very much enjoyed....

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  3. Sherry, I just loved this poem! You did a wonderful job.
    I really liked:
    Meanwhile the myriad galaxies spin
    in their mystical and so mysterious orbits
    across a midnight sky bejeweled with diamonds.
    Just beautiful Impressed!

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  4. Sherry, I just love the idea that the world awaits our co-creation. What a beautiful thought. But, yes, it IS sometimes hard to keep going.

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  5. very good....as a professor once told me on an essay I turned in (back in the 1700s) a very reasonable facsimile -- of Mary Oliver's poem.
    Good Job! your poem is just a good - maybe better -- as Mary's.
    thanks you for sharing.

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  6. Wow Sherry.... an amazing piece by both Mary Oliver and...by you!
    Truly amazing and lovely and, no adequate words just simply, awed.

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  7. I've liked this Oliver poem for a long time. I really enjoyed yours. I think I'll share it with my daughter. It's an up with woman, up with life, carpe diem celebration. Excellent!

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  8. thanks for sharing ... and you have done such a gr8 job as well ... loved them both.

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  9. Both poems have infused me with a sense of deeply felt well-being.. and that's a gift you are constantly giving the world, Sherry. A small superwoman indeed!

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  10. do lime your take on this... loved the superwoman angle

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  11. Thank you for choosing Mary Oliver who is one of my all-time favorites (probably because of her relationship to nature). Your poem echoes her style and I love the premise.

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