As part of my Poetry III class, it's my job not to just write poetry, but read it too. I found this today in a wonderful poetry collection called "Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times". It's called "The Journey" by Mary Oliver, quickly becoming one of my favorite poets:
One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice - though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You know what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do - determined to save the only life you could save. Isn't she absolutely the greatest? With such simple words, she tells you a story of an awakening self-journey. I think she proves you don't have to be in an extreme of happiness or sadness for a poem to impact you, if you let it.
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I'm Elizabeth Kidder, freelance illustrator currently located in Knoxville, TN. Please enjoy the site and Contact Me with any job inquiries or questions.
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