Thank you to Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect for hosting Poetry Friday this week.
I don’t know about you, but my heart was saddened to hear the news of Mary Oliver’s passing today.
One of my treasured gifts last June was FELICITY by Mary Oliver. A recorded interview about the book can be founded HERE.
Besides the natural world that she has explored so often, in FELICITY Oliver explores the mysteries of the heart.
There are so many lines to consider in this book:
“I have refused to live
locked in the orderly house of
reasons and proofs.” (The World I Live In)
“All the important ideas must include the trees,
the mountains, and the rivers.
To understand many things you must reach out
of your condition.” (Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way)
“Do you bow your head when you pray or do you look
up at the blue space?
…Rumi said, “There is no proof of the soul.
But isn’t the return of spring and how it
springs up in our hearts a pretty good hint?” (Whistling Swans)
And finally this:
Humility
Poems arrive ready to begin.
Poets are only the transportation.
Thank you, Mary Oliver, for transporting poems to the world all these years. You will be missed. Your voice will remain.
Check It Out 
I was so sad when I heard the news yesterday. She was beloved by so many, offering spiritual comfort and poetic inspiration. I think many of us can honestly say we’ve come to appreciate the natural world more because of her work. But as you said, her exploration of the “mysteries of the heart” also resonated with so many people. Love the quotes you shared today. Thanks!
Oliver’s words provide inspiration, comfort, and joy. These lines will be written in my digital notebook:
Poems arrive ready to begin.
Poets are only the transportation.
Amen. I haven’t read Felicity. Is it a collection or a memoir or what? Thanks:>)
I love dipping into Felicity – there was a wonderful spareness about her last few volumes, wasn’t there?
Indeed. She was an incredible mentor. It seems I can never get enough of her wise words. Thank you for sharing!
Her voice will remain. May we all raise ours for the natural world and for the creative spirit!
I am grateful to read her words over and over today and on into the future.
Thanks for these moving excerpts Jone, and I agree with Mary Oliver in this one,
“All the important ideas must include the trees,
the mountains, and the rivers.”