Poems on Mary Oliver Seeking Honest Critique
#MaryOliver
JohnnyBlaze
Poem Published
20th Jul 2021 3:32pm
20th Jul 2021 3:32pm
[ CC ] Cricket Song
Is this really necessary?
I am constantly asking
There are no critics with answers
cryptic or straighforward
only crickets chirping
---they are just as unhelpful
Sun settles to earth
long after my cement crusted
little, red wheelbarrow
with a recently flattened tire
came to an abrupt halt;
a contraption quite useless
in its downtime on a good day
except for collection of rain
and shade offering to chickens
---lack of multifunctionality ...
I am constantly asking
There are no critics with answers
cryptic or straighforward
only crickets chirping
---they are just as unhelpful
Sun settles to earth
long after my cement crusted
little, red wheelbarrow
with a recently flattened tire
came to an abrupt halt;
a contraption quite useless
in its downtime on a good day
except for collection of rain
and shade offering to chickens
---lack of multifunctionality ...
#home
#spiritual
#music
#MaryOliver
#MargaretAtwood
586 reads
11 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
470 reads
1 Comment
Ahavati
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
805 reads
7 Comments
Ahavati
Poem Published
12th Jan 2019 9:09pm
12th Jan 2019 9:09pm
The Journey ( Resumed – After Mary Oliver )
It never began but resumed
on some lackadaisical day
when you least expected joy
amid the everyday mundane—
or, maybe it was an extraordinary
moment orchestrated by love
activating clarity of intuition
subcutaneously dormant within you;
a minute idea-like mammal
etching its way blindly
through hallowed cavities
of your solar plexus—
...
on some lackadaisical day
when you least expected joy
amid the everyday mundane—
or, maybe it was an extraordinary
moment orchestrated by love
activating clarity of intuition
subcutaneously dormant within you;
a minute idea-like mammal
etching its way blindly
through hallowed cavities
of your solar plexus—
...
#universe
#spiritual
#TruthOfLife
#philosophical
#MaryOliver
798 reads
4 Comments
ImperfectedStone
The Gardener
The Gardener
Poem Published
8th Jan 2019 2:03pm
8th Jan 2019 2:03pm
The Swan (Oliver: Bone)
For my small, incredible Great-Nanny, who loved Swans, who has been gone for seven years too long.
Inspired by Mary Oliver's poem by the same name.
Inwardly descending, shifting across the creek
she comes
with the grace of a purest babe
and careful, as mother carrying it
'her ship, filled
with white flowers–'
dancing upon the early-grey
of ghosts, in their holy chariots.
I miss my Grandmother's company–
sketching waves
within perfectly penned lines and
of...
Inspired by Mary Oliver's poem by the same name.
Inwardly descending, shifting across the creek
she comes
with the grace of a purest babe
and careful, as mother carrying it
'her ship, filled
with white flowers–'
dancing upon the early-grey
of ghosts, in their holy chariots.
I miss my Grandmother's company–
sketching waves
within perfectly penned lines and
of...
#death
#birds
#water #MaryOliver
#water #MaryOliver
615 reads
7 Comments
Ahavati
Poem Published
6th Jan 2019 6:07pm
6th Jan 2019 6:07pm
Song of the Builders ( After Mary Oliver )
We are humankind, all of us
living various levels of experience—
growing consciousness as bones.
Some are fractured, broken
scarred by choice or accident—
others, solidly intact.
We do not master response
as much as approach — although
it is not the latter that generates war
but the former alone.
If I say, Strike my cheek
do it, that I may judge
how much I have built
upon the foundation of Love
by turning the other too—
or, how far I still need to go. ...
living various levels of experience—
growing consciousness as bones.
Some are fractured, broken
scarred by choice or accident—
others, solidly intact.
We do not master response
as much as approach — although
it is not the latter that generates war
but the former alone.
If I say, Strike my cheek
do it, that I may judge
how much I have built
upon the foundation of Love
by turning the other too—
or, how far I still need to go. ...
#nature
#peace
#spiritual
#humankind
#MaryOliver
1025 reads
22 Comments
JohnnyBlaze
Poem Published
5th Jan 2019 1:00pm
5th Jan 2019 1:00pm
[ PM ] Night
took her bed---
nothing but water
dark;
perfect
Stars floated around
a river so full at times
arranging into something;
they never slept better
Back on earth
as skirts of lichens fell
I rose
among white moths
LUMINOUS
and
insects fire breathing
DOOM!
Before all their
pocket kingdoms small---
the dozen birds...
nothing but water
dark;
perfect
Stars floated around
a river so full at times
arranging into something;
they never slept better
Back on earth
as skirts of lichens fell
I rose
among white moths
LUMINOUS
and
insects fire breathing
DOOM!
Before all their
pocket kingdoms small---
the dozen birds...
#dark
#night
#nature #MaryOliver
#nature #MaryOliver
846 reads
10 Comments
JohnnyBlaze
Poem Published
1st Jan 2019 10:51am
1st Jan 2019 10:51am
[ CC ] [ fAwL ] Renewal
After we met, I knew in this Heart of mine
the journey led straight to your doorstep.
I ignored voices in my head --- exhausting
critics who repeatedly said that the Universe
wasn't in my corner. I proved them wrong,
as well as cowardly, refusing daily to give up
on our melody: we're instruments in song,
keyed to the vibration of Us. Thus, my dark
night of the soul was illuminated with stars
shining and cards turned face up held firm
the Tarot'ed promise that in being myself...
the journey led straight to your doorstep.
I ignored voices in my head --- exhausting
critics who repeatedly said that the Universe
wasn't in my corner. I proved them wrong,
as well as cowardly, refusing daily to give up
on our melody: we're instruments in song,
keyed to the vibration of Us. Thus, my dark
night of the soul was illuminated with stars
shining and cards turned face up held firm
the Tarot'ed promise that in being myself...
#love
#identity
#fate
#travel
#MaryOliver
717 reads
4 Comments
Ahavati
Poem Published
31st Dec 2018 3:28pm
31st Dec 2018 3:28pm
Mindful ( After Mary Oliver )
God days, I call them—
creation aligned
with mindful being
despite contrast;
such as the truth
of this simple moment:
no accolade, award
or holiday exists as reason
to appreciate its breath;
only Life itself:
winter grass
a frozen lake—
this skeletal leaf
~
#MaryOliver
creation aligned
with mindful being
despite contrast;
such as the truth
of this simple moment:
no accolade, award
or holiday exists as reason
to appreciate its breath;
only Life itself:
winter grass
a frozen lake—
this skeletal leaf
~
#MaryOliver
#nature
#LifeAsAWriter
#WritingPoetry
#gratitude
#MaryOliver
737 reads
2 Comments
yelluw_always
Poem Published
31st Dec 2018 1:05am
31st Dec 2018 1:05am
The Collector
1.
Unusual, in the distance, stillness
beneath a hanging
wispy algae as it waves
a flag. The pelican
whittled down
to its base form. Stark, stranded, smooth-
an orange beak
like a bird of paradise and I sought heaven
in your duplicity, in your triplicity,
in your multitudes, a million
lights emerge
as static on the sea, I did not see it.
I believe wishes come
2.
from the wing bone. Funny,
life is not a stranger, but death is....
Unusual, in the distance, stillness
beneath a hanging
wispy algae as it waves
a flag. The pelican
whittled down
to its base form. Stark, stranded, smooth-
an orange beak
like a bird of paradise and I sought heaven
in your duplicity, in your triplicity,
in your multitudes, a million
lights emerge
as static on the sea, I did not see it.
I believe wishes come
2.
from the wing bone. Funny,
life is not a stranger, but death is....
#dreams
#sea
#birds
#morality
#MaryOliver
29 reads
28 Comments
JohnnyBlaze
Poem Published
30th Dec 2018 8:42pm
30th Dec 2018 8:42pm
[ CC ] All Night Slumber Party
I pond-ered as if rain---
my wits slowly gathering; shape
shifting consciousness expanding;
coming to more senses than
I was previously aware of.
Embraced against bosom in welcoming arms,
the Earth invited me to take rest in her cottage,
yet we ended up chatting all night
under a raftered porch of branches
frosted with moonlight and starfire white;
illuminated miniature kingdoms everwhere
about us guarded by little moth-men
and counseled by wise owl guardians. ...
my wits slowly gathering; shape
shifting consciousness expanding;
coming to more senses than
I was previously aware of.
Embraced against bosom in welcoming arms,
the Earth invited me to take rest in her cottage,
yet we ended up chatting all night
under a raftered porch of branches
frosted with moonlight and starfire white;
illuminated miniature kingdoms everwhere
about us guarded by little moth-men
and counseled by wise owl guardians. ...
#dreams
#nature
#dialogue
#sleep
#MaryOliver
711 reads
3 Comments
Ahavati
Poem Published
28th Dec 2018 4:10pm
28th Dec 2018 4:10pm
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...
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...
#universe
#LifeAsAWriter
#evolution
#WritingPoetry
#MaryOliver
891 reads
11 Comments
DU Poetry : Poems on Mary Oliver Seeking Honest Critique
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#MaryOliver is curated by Ahavati.
