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Wild Geese ( After Mary Oliver )
There are no instructions to glean wisdom;
no table of contents directing the living
to their appropriate chapter in life’s manual.
There is only an instinct for survival,
one deeper than holding your breath;
and no one taught you to do that.
In the intimate darkness of womb
you inhaled amniotic fluid
because it sustained your growth,
but no one taught you to do that.
No one taught you to hold your breath
in the birth canal or your first bath;
you just knew you were supposed to.
So why do you try so hard to understand
what cannot be understood by anyone;
knowledge flows in our veins.
All you have to do is listen to the drum
of blood in your ear when submerged
into the still depth of a bath or pond,
where language opens the memory
of being formed already knowing:
You were life’s prayer of becoming—
and its answer all along.
~
#MaryOliver
no table of contents directing the living
to their appropriate chapter in life’s manual.
There is only an instinct for survival,
one deeper than holding your breath;
and no one taught you to do that.
In the intimate darkness of womb
you inhaled amniotic fluid
because it sustained your growth,
but no one taught you to do that.
No one taught you to hold your breath
in the birth canal or your first bath;
you just knew you were supposed to.
So why do you try so hard to understand
what cannot be understood by anyone;
knowledge flows in our veins.
All you have to do is listen to the drum
of blood in your ear when submerged
into the still depth of a bath or pond,
where language opens the memory
of being formed already knowing:
You were life’s prayer of becoming—
and its answer all along.
~
#MaryOliver
Published 28th Dec 2018
| Edited 30th Jan 2019
Author's Note
Non-entry for the Classic Comp Bone:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/competitions/read/10548/
Inspiration: http://www.phys.unm.edu/~tw/fas/yits/archive/oliver_wildgeese.html
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/competitions/read/10548/
Inspiration: http://www.phys.unm.edu/~tw/fas/yits/archive/oliver_wildgeese.html
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
likes 5
reading list entries 4
comments 11
reads 894
Commenting Preference:
The author encourages honest critique.
28th Dec 2018 5:31pm
Wow this is phenomenal!👏👏
Such a profoundly powerful piece of poetry well done!
"So, why do you try so hard to understand
what cannot be understood by anyone –
except in relation to personal perception
and spiritual evolution?" Wowo thats deep and a perfectly stated profound question of which i don't have an answer to nevertheless this is awesome great write!👏
Such a profoundly powerful piece of poetry well done!
"So, why do you try so hard to understand
what cannot be understood by anyone –
except in relation to personal perception
and spiritual evolution?" Wowo thats deep and a perfectly stated profound question of which i don't have an answer to nevertheless this is awesome great write!👏
29th Dec 2018 4:17am
As being someone who almost drowned once, I feel the calm assurance in your tone that everything will be okay when the struggle to survive is given up.
This is stellar writing and you are really tapped into Oliver.
💜💏💋
This is stellar writing and you are really tapped into Oliver.
💜💏💋
29th Dec 2018 4:17am
28th Dec 2018 9:38pm
In the stanza
In the foreign legion of womb
you inhaled amniotic fluid
knowing it sustained growth.
I think that I see what you are getting at here, but I also wondered about the use of "knowing", as a foetus does not necessarily know anything, at least not in a 'knowing' way that we are accustomed to. Perhaps something like "scaffolding for sustained growth" or "baking beads for sustained growth". My shaky and think knowledge of amniotic fluid might be showing here.
In stanza
No one taught you to that –
to hold your breath in the birth canal
or your first bath; you just knew
water would retrieve your life –
then every labor you pained being born
would’ve been in vain.
the first line seems to have a missing word between "to" and "that", or perhaps it is a mis-wording of "... that to you"
Also, did you mean to type "retrieve your life"? With the word "retrieve", I am unsure of the meaning of this line.
in the final line of that stanza, "would've" did not seem right to my novice-ear, and "would have" feels better.
In the penultimate stanza, the line "into the still pond of a bath or ocean", "still pond" appears to apply to both the bath and the ocean. Whilst "still pond" is good for the bath, it seems incongruous for the ocean - unless it's for the deep ocean.
Overall, I enjoyed this poem's expression of its theme and ideas. And I particularly enjoyed its final stanza.
"In the stanza
In the foreign legion of womb
you inhaled amniotic fluid
knowing it sustained growth.
I think that I see what you are getting at here, but I also wondered about the use of "knowing", as a foetus does not necessarily know anything, at least not in a 'knowing' way that we are accustomed to. Perhaps something like "scaffolding for sustained growth" or "baking beads for sustained growth". My shaky and think knowledge of amniotic fluid might be showing here."
. . .
But we do know when in the womb - I believe, and have witnessed infants interacting with beings I can't see. I have also heard stories, especially those of my own grandson ( among other children ) when barely two, of seeing people in the room, and remembering what happened to him in a previous life.
You are right in that a foetus does not necessarily know anything, at least not in a 'knowing' way that we are accustomed to. I believe we're born fully knowing what we spent our lives trying to know once we're older and forget. But that's just me.
~~~~~
"In stanza
No one taught you to that –
to hold your breath in the birth canal
or your first bath; you just knew
water would retrieve your life –
then every labor you pained being born
would’ve been in vain.
the first line seems to have a missing word between "to" and "that", or perhaps it is a mis-wording of "... that to you"
Also, did you mean to type "retrieve your life"? With the word "retrieve", I am unsure of the meaning of this line.
in the final line of that stanza, "would've" did not seem right to my novice-ear, and "would have" feels better."
. . .
Good catch; I have inserted the missing "to", and corrected the would have. I typically don't use contractions in my current poetry - that was probably out of habit. Thanks for both those catches.
In regards to retrieve, if taken with the entire stanza - it means exactly that: retrieve your life, aka, you'll drown if you breathe bath water etc, despite having breathed amniotic fluid. How do babies know not to breath liquid after breathing it for 9 months? How do they "know" to hold their breath and swim when born into water vs. inhaling it as they have done for 9 months? Who taught them that? It's fascinating, the human instinct, and what it knows at any age, even a forming fetus. Just like certain animals instinctively know how to hunt and survive without being taught.
I will think upon the stanza and see if there's a more efficient way to convey the meaning into a better understanding, but I did intend to use retrieving.
_____
In the penultimate stanza, the line "into the still pond of a bath or ocean", "still pond" appears to apply to both the bath and the ocean. Whilst "still pond" is good for the bath, it seems incongruous for the ocean - unless it's for the deep ocean.
. . .
Diving deeply is exactly what I meant, just as sinking deeply into a bath. I'll have a think on it and see what transpires.
_____
Overall, I enjoyed this poem's expression of its theme and ideas. And I particularly enjoyed its final stanza.
. . .
Thank you; I very much appreciate the time and attention to details of your critique.
In the foreign legion of womb
you inhaled amniotic fluid
knowing it sustained growth.
I think that I see what you are getting at here, but I also wondered about the use of "knowing", as a foetus does not necessarily know anything, at least not in a 'knowing' way that we are accustomed to. Perhaps something like "scaffolding for sustained growth" or "baking beads for sustained growth". My shaky and think knowledge of amniotic fluid might be showing here."
. . .
But we do know when in the womb - I believe, and have witnessed infants interacting with beings I can't see. I have also heard stories, especially those of my own grandson ( among other children ) when barely two, of seeing people in the room, and remembering what happened to him in a previous life.
You are right in that a foetus does not necessarily know anything, at least not in a 'knowing' way that we are accustomed to. I believe we're born fully knowing what we spent our lives trying to know once we're older and forget. But that's just me.
~~~~~
"In stanza
No one taught you to that –
to hold your breath in the birth canal
or your first bath; you just knew
water would retrieve your life –
then every labor you pained being born
would’ve been in vain.
the first line seems to have a missing word between "to" and "that", or perhaps it is a mis-wording of "... that to you"
Also, did you mean to type "retrieve your life"? With the word "retrieve", I am unsure of the meaning of this line.
in the final line of that stanza, "would've" did not seem right to my novice-ear, and "would have" feels better."
. . .
Good catch; I have inserted the missing "to", and corrected the would have. I typically don't use contractions in my current poetry - that was probably out of habit. Thanks for both those catches.
In regards to retrieve, if taken with the entire stanza - it means exactly that: retrieve your life, aka, you'll drown if you breathe bath water etc, despite having breathed amniotic fluid. How do babies know not to breath liquid after breathing it for 9 months? How do they "know" to hold their breath and swim when born into water vs. inhaling it as they have done for 9 months? Who taught them that? It's fascinating, the human instinct, and what it knows at any age, even a forming fetus. Just like certain animals instinctively know how to hunt and survive without being taught.
I will think upon the stanza and see if there's a more efficient way to convey the meaning into a better understanding, but I did intend to use retrieving.
_____
In the penultimate stanza, the line "into the still pond of a bath or ocean", "still pond" appears to apply to both the bath and the ocean. Whilst "still pond" is good for the bath, it seems incongruous for the ocean - unless it's for the deep ocean.
. . .
Diving deeply is exactly what I meant, just as sinking deeply into a bath. I'll have a think on it and see what transpires.
_____
Overall, I enjoyed this poem's expression of its theme and ideas. And I particularly enjoyed its final stanza.
. . .
Thank you; I very much appreciate the time and attention to details of your critique.
After re-reading, I replaced pond with depth - that should clarify it a bit. I considered it before pond; however, wasn't certain depth would apply to a bath.
As a matter of fact, I replaced ocean with pond - I like the assonance of o and consonance of n better - despite ocean having both - pond seems to fit better with formed and knowing.
As a matter of fact, I replaced ocean with pond - I like the assonance of o and consonance of n better - despite ocean having both - pond seems to fit better with formed and knowing.
30th Dec 2018 8:05am
30th Dec 2018 12:48pm
31st Dec 2018 00:13am
i literally put my hand over my heart when read your final stanza
"All you have to do is listen to the drum
of blood in your ear when submerged
into the still depth of a bath or pond
where language opens the memory
of being formed already knowing: ..."
i had to feel the drum. awesome write.
"All you have to do is listen to the drum
of blood in your ear when submerged
into the still depth of a bath or pond
where language opens the memory
of being formed already knowing: ..."
i had to feel the drum. awesome write.
31st Dec 2018 00:24am
