Poems Inspired by Mary Oliver
#MaryOliver
Poems inspired by the American poet Mary Jane Oliver. Here you'll find poetry using the style, themes or characters found in poems by Mary Oliver. Along with poems about Oliver herself, including praise, criticism and memorials.
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
3rd Jun 2022 6:20am
3rd Jun 2022 6:20am
Perspectives in Freedom
What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend,
it ceases to exist."
- Salman Rushdie
"Speak, or be unheard,
open your mind or be confined.
You have so much to say
don't let self doubt take it away.
Open minds and hearts are listening
and they can affirm what is humanity
expressing and being itself in you
opinions aren't right or wrong, just unique;
it is bravery in action to shout in your
true voice as a lion would roar
and a fearless voice is a blessing
even in the...
it ceases to exist."
- Salman Rushdie
"Speak, or be unheard,
open your mind or be confined.
You have so much to say
don't let self doubt take it away.
Open minds and hearts are listening
and they can affirm what is humanity
expressing and being itself in you
opinions aren't right or wrong, just unique;
it is bravery in action to shout in your
true voice as a lion would roar
and a fearless voice is a blessing
even in the...
#freedom
#MaryOliver
#MayaAngelou
#NaPoWriMo2022
#HenryDavidThoreau
728 reads
6 Comments
AlisVolatPropriis8
Poem Published
19th Oct 2020 1:27pm
19th Oct 2020 1:27pm
Indulgence.
Because it pains
When you fall.
When you fall.
#MaryOliver
518 reads
1 Comment
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
22nd Dec 2019 4:27am
22nd Dec 2019 4:27am
Bird Of Winter
A bird of Winter never leaves,
but remains behind
among the trees.
All the others far have flown
to winter Edens in
temperate zones.
I cannot see, but only hear,
my eyes stung with
crispest air
and whitest sky against grey limbs
twisted above
alone and slim.
The joyful bird echoes melodic notes
it's whitest wings
spread out as it floats
and lifts from one...
but remains behind
among the trees.
All the others far have flown
to winter Edens in
temperate zones.
I cannot see, but only hear,
my eyes stung with
crispest air
and whitest sky against grey limbs
twisted above
alone and slim.
The joyful bird echoes melodic notes
it's whitest wings
spread out as it floats
and lifts from one...
#trees
#birds
#winter
#nature
#MaryOliver
780 reads
17 Comments
Heaven_sent_Kathy
Poem Published
6th Oct 2019 12:29pm
6th Oct 2019 12:29pm
The City, The Forest and Other Bird Songs
( after Mary Oliver )
It is everywhere—
the echo
overlapping upon itself
as the sweet, lilting
songs of birds
in the
stiff, stately pines
standing thick,
dark and tall
between, among
the bleached high-rises,
their sterile glass eyes blink
from early shifting light
in the nip of dawn,
suddenly begin to herald
the new day—
and, with the vocal trills
lifting up from the
council of trees,
the span of a
disgruntled owl emerges,
leaving me
quelled of speech, ...
It is everywhere—
the echo
overlapping upon itself
as the sweet, lilting
songs of birds
in the
stiff, stately pines
standing thick,
dark and tall
between, among
the bleached high-rises,
their sterile glass eyes blink
from early shifting light
in the nip of dawn,
suddenly begin to herald
the new day—
and, with the vocal trills
lifting up from the
council of trees,
the span of a
disgruntled owl emerges,
leaving me
quelled of speech, ...
#city
#trees
#birds
#nature
#MaryOliver
780 reads
15 Comments
Ahavati
Tams
Tams
Poem Published
12th May 2019 8:15pm
12th May 2019 8:15pm
A Quintuple of Poets: Part II
Mary Oliver in Edo Period Japan
lived as a subordinate
tending family land;
circumvented convention
when blood-letting
into slump-soiled cherry roots;
each blossom's scarlet-stained
heart worn on its pink sleeve;
groomed blue horses without fences
dazzling over squash-colored fields—
counted five species of mimicking loons
drowning tadpole voices
down woodland throats;
remained alone after best-
friend Ai was purchased
by an...
lived as a subordinate
tending family land;
circumvented convention
when blood-letting
into slump-soiled cherry roots;
each blossom's scarlet-stained
heart worn on its pink sleeve;
groomed blue horses without fences
dazzling over squash-colored fields—
counted five species of mimicking loons
drowning tadpole voices
down woodland throats;
remained alone after best-
friend Ai was purchased
by an...
#LifeAsAWriter
#WritingPoetry
#culture
#MaryOliver
#tradition
861 reads
7 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
9th May 2019 5:23am
9th May 2019 5:23am
Winter
The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone’
-Goethe
1
The crisp top of each wave
knows Winter as it breaches the wind.
The birds shorten their bodies to it,
ruffling in the breeze where they stand
and the low Sun knows it too;
it sinks a glowing amber disk
surrounded by grey sky.
The land is patched in whitest snow
peppered in browned and grey foliage.
2
How do I know Winter?
She comes to me at night
in light too dim to see. ...
-Goethe
1
The crisp top of each wave
knows Winter as it breaches the wind.
The birds shorten their bodies to it,
ruffling in the breeze where they stand
and the low Sun knows it too;
it sinks a glowing amber disk
surrounded by grey sky.
The land is patched in whitest snow
peppered in browned and grey foliage.
2
How do I know Winter?
She comes to me at night
in light too dim to see. ...
#winter
#nature
#LifeCycle
#MaryOliver
#NaPoWriMo2019
725 reads
6 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
8th Mar 2019 00:04am
8th Mar 2019 00:04am
She Fell, Poetically
She fell poetically
waterfalling over rock cliffs protuberances,
in words gushing a million little rivers
setting them free against their witholdings.
Time set loose all withholdings
and gravity pulled the words
out of her soul.
And here, at falls, she broke apart
into a mist, a spray, a white ghost
of many tiny osmotic cells aloft,
each one a replica of her hearts yearnings
each one an evaporative memory of its own being
and all she was and had were memories.
A museum...
waterfalling over rock cliffs protuberances,
in words gushing a million little rivers
setting them free against their witholdings.
Time set loose all withholdings
and gravity pulled the words
out of her soul.
And here, at falls, she broke apart
into a mist, a spray, a white ghost
of many tiny osmotic cells aloft,
each one a replica of her hearts yearnings
each one an evaporative memory of its own being
and all she was and had were memories.
A museum...
#WritingPoetry
#MaryOliver
#LifeAsAWriter
600 reads
10 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
14th Feb 2019 10:43pm
14th Feb 2019 10:43pm
Heaven In A Dream Of Trees
I was a tree with old leaves
mottled and crisp and wrinkled.
On the pond I’d float in a little boat
lapping along to she, to she.
This friend I have, I only dream
and see her rising above, ahead.
A lovely tree, so many were she.
I’d reach her soon to lay my head
under her canopy.
So soon the night to fall upon
a weary day unwound from dawn.
I met her there at water’s edge
where a swan would drift to blossom white
my arms did lift to hold the night.
I felt her in my heart of hearts
so...
mottled and crisp and wrinkled.
On the pond I’d float in a little boat
lapping along to she, to she.
This friend I have, I only dream
and see her rising above, ahead.
A lovely tree, so many were she.
I’d reach her soon to lay my head
under her canopy.
So soon the night to fall upon
a weary day unwound from dawn.
I met her there at water’s edge
where a swan would drift to blossom white
my arms did lift to hold the night.
I felt her in my heart of hearts
so...
#dreams
#forest
#trees
#nature
#MaryOliver
589 reads
2 Comments
eswaller
Poem Published
23rd Jan 2019 2:03am
23rd Jan 2019 2:03am
The Journey (After Mary Oliver)
The journey starts with one small step. It is one step into the world
Where the tides and waves all rush to meet at your feet as you walk
In the sand on the beach’s shoreline, following endless words curled
On forgotten pages. Above all the endless noise, chatter and the talk
Of those around you is where you begin to find your bearings. It is
When you see the stars and you are away from the advice of a hawk
You find your voice. You want someone else to come fix and un-fizz
Your life like the aftermath of a chaotic storm or glass of champagne, ...
Where the tides and waves all rush to meet at your feet as you walk
In the sand on the beach’s shoreline, following endless words curled
On forgotten pages. Above all the endless noise, chatter and the talk
Of those around you is where you begin to find your bearings. It is
When you see the stars and you are away from the advice of a hawk
You find your voice. You want someone else to come fix and un-fizz
Your life like the aftermath of a chaotic storm or glass of champagne, ...
#TruthOfLife
#SelfDiscovery
#MaryOliver
747 reads
14 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
20th Jan 2019 2:40am
20th Jan 2019 2:40am
Bone (A Soul)
1
One day I went down to the beach
and lay on the cool sand, my ears heard it singing.
Or maybe it was the surf, or the beetles in the grass.
I closed my eyes and felt the vibration of its tenor
stirring me to love, love, love, trust, or just
awakening me to acknowledge it.
2
My bones sunk into the sand
and rested against its language,
their thousand pages of words telling me
I am like them, and of belonging, and of god.
I never prayed but lifted a mussel shell to the sun.
I felt its hard edge against my...
One day I went down to the beach
and lay on the cool sand, my ears heard it singing.
Or maybe it was the surf, or the beetles in the grass.
I closed my eyes and felt the vibration of its tenor
stirring me to love, love, love, trust, or just
awakening me to acknowledge it.
2
My bones sunk into the sand
and rested against its language,
their thousand pages of words telling me
I am like them, and of belonging, and of god.
I never prayed but lifted a mussel shell to the sun.
I felt its hard edge against my...
#sea
#beach
#nature #MaryOliver
#nature #MaryOliver
681 reads
10 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
18th Jan 2019 11:27pm
18th Jan 2019 11:27pm
Wild Geese (God Gave Her Wings)
Hello, Sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields.
Watch, now, how I start the day
In happiness, in kindness.'
-Mary Oliver
.....
‘Tell me, how will you be fearless and improbable
and beautiful, how will you become wise..’
(She asked this of the sunrise)
‘I will write upon awakening in the early morning mist..’,
she, to self replied.
‘And I want to grow wings, I want to learn to fly..’, ...
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields.
Watch, now, how I start the day
In happiness, in kindness.'
-Mary Oliver
.....
‘Tell me, how will you be fearless and improbable
and beautiful, how will you become wise..’
(She asked this of the sunrise)
‘I will write upon awakening in the early morning mist..’,
she, to self replied.
‘And I want to grow wings, I want to learn to fly..’, ...
#nature
#spiritual
#MaryOliver
842 reads
6 Comments
PoetsRevenge
Poem Published
18th Jan 2019 11:25pm
18th Jan 2019 11:25pm
When Death Comes (Off Provincetown)
The whale turned over in the spray of her own breath
nearer to shore where the water broke among the shoals.
It was a caressing in those undercurrents; a lulling into a reacquaintance
to whom she had once belonged, so to whom would she return
for she had never left her place of swimming to or away from
all she belonged to and was sister to.
And, the beach was as much her home as ever, even now
as she approached it, gulls flapping around emerging rock.
The sea is louder here, she thought, the waves more turbulent
in these ever...
nearer to shore where the water broke among the shoals.
It was a caressing in those undercurrents; a lulling into a reacquaintance
to whom she had once belonged, so to whom would she return
for she had never left her place of swimming to or away from
all she belonged to and was sister to.
And, the beach was as much her home as ever, even now
as she approached it, gulls flapping around emerging rock.
The sea is louder here, she thought, the waves more turbulent
in these ever...
#death
#sea
#beach
#LifeCycle
#MaryOliver
626 reads
8 Comments
DU Poetry : Poems Inspired by Mary Oliver
#MaryOliver is curated by Ahavati (Tams).
