Poppies by Mary Oliver

31 Days of Poetry: Day 7. The bright, hope-filled words of Mary Oliver.

For the month of August I’ll be participating in The Sealey Challenge and attempting to read a book of poetry every day (or at least a poem or two), and every day I’ll be sharing a poem with you. If poetry isn’t your thing, a month isn’t too long a time, I promise. But, if it is something you enjoy, I hope this series affords you an opportunity to discover some new favourites or revisit some old ones.

Day seven’s poem was taken from New and Selected Poems: Volume One by Mary Oliver, published by Beacon Press (1992).

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Poppies

The poppies send up their
orange flares; swaying
in the wind, their congregations
are a levitation

of bright dust, of thin
and lacy leaves.
There isn't a place
in this world that doesn't

sooner or later drown
in the indigos of darkness,
but now, for a while,
the roughage

shines like a miracle
as it floats above everything
with its yellow hair.
Of course nothing stops the cold,

black, curved blade
from hooking forward—
of course
loss is the great lesson.

But also I say this: that light
is an invitation
to happiness,
and that happiness,

when it's done right,
is a kind of holiness,
palpable and redemptive.
Inside the bright fields,

touched by their rough and spongy gold,
I am washed and washed
in the river
of earthly delight—

and what are you going to do—
what can you do
about it—
deep, blue night?

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I’ve had a headache all day and I can feel my frown lines deepening with every passing minute but, to me, Mary Oliver’s words have such a way of relieving tension. I read her poems and suddenly I’m reminded that oh yes, there’s the blue of the sky and the tranquility of the river, and trees bearing fruit, and flowers swaying softly in the breeze, and the smell of the rain, and sunshine warming your skin; I think about how happiness is so often just waiting for you to notice it, and the absolute perfection of it all. Alhamdulillah.

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Can you believe it’s been whole week of poems already?! Thank you for coming along for the ride and thank you to those of you who have left comments, sent messages and shared insights with me- I’ve loved reading them.

Onto week two!

Tasnim