Sleeping In The Forest
Mary Oliver
I thought the earth remembered me, she
took me back so tenderly, arranging
her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds. I slept
as never before, a stone
on the riverbed, nothing
between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated
light as moths among the branches
of the perfect trees. All night
I heard the small kingdoms breathing
around me, the insects, and the birds
who do their work in the darkness. All night
I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling
with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.
I love Mary Oliver’s work.. hadn’t seen this poem.
It’s heavenly.. oops.. make that ‘earthenly’
Thank you, Beth.
Wish me luck.. I’m off to(hopefully) sell some paintings in an art show today.
Leaves me feeling at peace and a lovely since of calm
Belated good luck to you, Judy! How did it go??
Well said, Cynthia! Thanks for posting that.
Thanks for asking, Beth. It went very well. I sold a few, met a lot of interesting people and had fun. If you go to my blog site at http://www.judyshop.wordpress.com, you’ll see some pictures. I asked Cate Kerr if she minded if I used one of her ‘Heron’ photos to paint from and she gave me her blessing.. it inspired me to do some fun fabric work.