The Gift by Mary Oliver

31 Days of Poetry: Day 26. For A.H.- you were a gift I'll forever be grateful for.

Today’s poem is ‘The Gift’ by Mary Oliver, which was published in her collection, ‘Felicity’ (Corsair, 2018).

The Gift

Be still, my soul, and steadfast.
Earth and heaven both are still watching
though time is draining from the clock
and your walk, that was confident and quick,
has become slow.

So, be slow if you must, but let
the heart still play its true part.
Love still as you once loved, deeply
and without patience. Let God and the world
know you are grateful.
That the gift has been given.

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One of the things I love about Mary Oliver is that she didn’t shy away from God and religion in her poetry- she wasn’t afraid to say Who she was grateful to and what she was grateful for.

Two years ago today I lost someone who was, indisputably, a gift to all who knew him. The greater gift, still, was that I got to call him family.

I contemplated which poem would be appropriate for today’s mood; I didn’t want to choose anything overtly sad because I find that sadness invites itself in all too easily and really doesn’t need me to summon it. Then I remembered Mary Oliver’s ‘The Gift’ and it felt perfect.

Unlike sadness, gratitude, is more easily overlooked when you’re dealing with the loss of someone you love but I am grateful. I am grateful every day that I knew someone like A.H. and every day I miss him, too. That, I doubt, will ever change and that’s OK because the gift was given and I’m immensely grateful to have received it.

---

See you on day twenty-seven,

Tasnim

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