Unexpected Review of Mary Oliver's Evidence

Half way through a busy travel day, my laptop died. I plugged in the extended life battery and it died. I turned on my Kindle and it froze. So I reached in my bag for a last-minute addition, Evidence, Mary Oliver's nineteenth collection of poems.

Having read most of her previous work, I think Evidence is my favorite. As with previous collections, there are lots of birds and grass, but this collection is different in two ways. On one hand, her age is showing. Mary deals more frequently with grief and mortality; "Each of us leaves and unfinished life;" and

We shake with joy, we shake with grief. What a time they have, these two housed as they are in the same body.

The collection isn't dark, just reflective. Mary would say "clamoring toward" happiness. In Swans, she concludes

What we love, shapely and pure,
is not to be held,
but to be believed in.

On the other hand, her maturity allows short, unadorned moments of wonder. (You'll notice the brevity of these 47 poems when you page through this little book.) This is a collaboration between the heart of a grandmother and the eyes of a child:

I have become older and, cherishing what I have learned, I have become younger.

Like Stafford's, You Reading This, Be Ready, the title poem is a wake up call to "Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable." And:

I ask you again: if you have not been enchanted by
this adventure--your life--what would do for you?

Oliver sums it all up describing the "singular and cheerful life of any flower"

by its obedience to the holiest of laws: be alive until you are not.

Having waited for the tide to go out for a beach run this morning, this quote sealed it, "Eventually tides will be the only calendar you believe in." Take it on your next trip.

 

 

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Comments

[ReesieKitty]

I love Mary Oliver and will definitely get this book over the weekend! People need more poetry in their everyday lives.

[PatA]

Mary Oliver is my favourite poet. I recently lost a pet who loved camping in the woods .I created a memorial for him at Critters.com I used the poem "The Chance To Love Everything" to help me describe a part of our lives which was so important to both of us. Tippy and I lived this poem. No one can tell about "living" with the animals and other wonders of nature as she does.

"Did I see a black haunch slipping
back through the trees? Did I see
the moonlight shining on it?
Did I actually reach out my arms
toward it, toward paradise falling, like
the fading of the dearest, wildest hope ---
the dark heart of the story that is all
the reason for its telling?

Tippy and I lived this poem. No one can tell about "living" with the animals and other wonders of nature as she does.

[jonesbrother]

if more people reached for a mary oliver book instead of usa today and people, our world would be a better place. thanks for sharing.

[escribacat]

And a great post too.