“Not simply visiting this world” is a line from Mary Oliver’s poem When Death Comes. This last line of this poem resonated deep the morning I read it. I want to stay awake. I want to know what I want to do with “my one wild and precious life” (Mary Oliver) and how “to live the only life I have”. (again, Mary Oliver)
Mary Oliver’s poetry inspires me, moves me, rattles my nerves somedays. Her words vibrate a life energy, let me see things in ways otherwise unseen. I am still wondering what drew me out to take a picture of the sunset the other evening. I can see the edge of that time of day out the top of the kitchen window most evenings. I just note it, go back to the stove or the sink and the sun sets.
But, this evening, something/someone moved me to grab the camera/phone and take several shots. Then and only then, almost as an afterthought, my eyes caught the tree branch and something more. My first impression…a black garbage bag had blown into the spiny branches, still winter weather bare.
And, then, I saw her (I’ve decided she was a she) with a capital “S” saw her. Was that really an owl? Her head turned a slight turn and there were her two little ears, distinct as the sunset was orange and pink. It was sunset and even though the sky was vivid colors the graying of twilight almost hid her. She sat and sat, quiet and still, only once lifting herself to the next branch and then still again.
“Do not simply visit this world”….There are messengers, in places, and from voices we miss, right in front of us. These voices are often quiet, even silent, not loud, in your face, distracting voices of chaos or distortion.
Visit the world, awake and aware, of these different messengers (voices)….the sunset, the owl, the silence, the moon….
What do they have to say to you? Who else speaks to you?
Reading & Writing a Life 