{"id":4689,"date":"2006-04-05T12:24:41","date_gmt":"2006-04-05T16:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=4689"},"modified":"2015-05-20T10:22:51","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T14:22:51","slug":"mary-oliver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=4689","title":{"rendered":"Pillars of Light"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another favorite of mine – in honor of National Poetry Month<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In Blackwater Woods<\/b>
\nby Mary Oliver<\/i><\/p>\n

Look, the trees
\nare turning
\ntheir own bodies
\ninto pillars<\/p>\n

of light,
\nare giving off the rich
\nfragrance of cinnamon
\nand fulfillment,<\/p>\n

the long tapers
\nof cattails
\nare bursting and floating away over
\nthe blue shoulders<\/p>\n

of the ponds,
\nand every pond,
\nno matter what its
\nname is, is<\/p>\n

nameless now.
\nEvery year
\neverything
\nI have ever learned<\/p>\n

in my lifetime
\nleads back to this: the fires
\nand the black river of loss
\nwhose other side<\/p>\n

is salvation,
\nwhose meaning
\nnone of us will ever know.
\nTo live in this world<\/p>\n

you must be able
\nto do three things:
\nto love what is mortal;
\nto hold it<\/p>\n

against your bones knowing
\nyour own life depends on it;
\nand, when the time comes to let it go,
\nto let it go.<\/p>\n

\n