It’s the 30th anniversary of National Poetry Month. It was launched by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 to celebrate the role poets play in our culture and affirm that poetry matters. Pomegranate Books here in Wilmington, NC is hosting a poetry reading this Friday, April 24th at 7pm featuring the poems of Mary Oliver. My dear friend Debby asked me to share two poems at the event. She knows I am a Mary Oliver fan. You can read Mary Oliver’s short bio here.
This is one of my favorite poems, Today from A Thousand Mornings, published in 2012. I hope it inspires you.
Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word.
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.
The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.
But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.
Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.
