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SWAN: Poems and Prose Poems
SWAN: Poems and Prose Poems, by Mary Oliver is
the Oliver's newest and twentieth volume of poetry. Having accidentally
stumbled upon several of her poems I went online to see if she had
written any books. I was delighted to discover her newest volume "Swan"
and, of course, immediately drawn to it. Her poetry sings of God's
beauty in the nuances of life. Spinning her words around glimpses of
"the wings of the swan like the stretching light of the river" or "the
frogs singing in the shallows" her poetry radiates. I learned that
Oliver was born and raised twenty minutes from Chagrin Falls, Ohio in Maple Heights. Now in her 70s she lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts. She is also the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and is acknowledged by the New York Times Book Review as one of this country's best-selling poets.
It
was only last week when my computer went on strike for the day.
Frustrated and unable to work I went into our little town of Chagrin. On
Main Street the
river runs through the center of town and if you stand on the sidewalk
next to the popcorn shop and look over the rail you can watch the falls
cascading over the rocks. On a beautiful fall day Main street is busy. I
went into town, got a cup of coffee and walked over to the library to
check my emails. I had correspondence to mail and decided I would also
walk to the post office and enjoy the spectacular leaves. By late
afternoon everything was bathed in a golden light. I walked the back way
through town crossing over the bridge
by the old paper factory (now closed). For some reason I stopped on the
bridge and peered down through the spray of colorful leaves. I couldn't
believe my eyes. Poised on a rock in the river was a large mute swan
sleeping in the sun, it's graceful neck curved to tuck his head under
its wing. Slowly it lifted its head, seemed to look up at me and then
resumed its position and its nap in the late afternoon sun.
All
my years in Chagrin I have seen plenty of ducks and geese on the river,
but never a swan. A few days later I discovered Oliver's book and her
poem, "Swan". The poem is a prayer in itself... Inspired by my autumn
day and chance meeting with a swan the following week I painted "Autumn
swans".
NOTE: Autumn Swan by Debra Classen (3 x 4 ft) and the original is priced at $400, all proceeds go to The Mute Swan Ministry. Contact Debra at debraclassen@aol.com for more information.
Swan, by Mary Oliver
Did you too see it, drifting, all night on the black river?
Did you see it in the morning, rising into the silvery air,
and armful of white blossoms,
a perfect commotion of silk and linen as it leaned
into the bondage of its wings" a snowbank, a bank of lilies,
biting the air with its black beak?
Did you hear it, fluting and whistling
a shrill dark music, like the rain pelting the trees,
like a waterfall
knifing down the black ledges?
And did you see it, finally, just under the clouds--
a white cross streaming across the sky, its feet
like black leaves, its wings like the stretching light of the river?
And di you feel it, in your heart, how it pertained to everything?
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
(Boston: Beacon Press,2010), p. 15
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