One of Us

In response to my last blog, the fabulous Aquila questioned if Mary Oliver is “One of Us”. That question in itself opens up all kinds of other questions, ones I’ve been ruminating on, and thankfully, last night those questions were settled. This came due to my great fortune of having tickets to see Mary Oliver in person. She read her poetry for fifty minutes – a time period as a therapist I found amusing – and then she answered questions. Although I wasn’t one of those who raised my hand, she gave me the answers I needed. In essence, all of us are just that - One, and yet, in our infinite variations, Mary Oliver speaks for those of us who worship this green earth above and below anything else.

Years back I was interviewed for the book “Modern Pagans” and asked to give a list of books that I found core to living as a pagan and a witch. It was a short list, and it included most predominately the poetry of Mary Oliver. Her poems resonate with love for the natural world, and always remind me to be thankful. I keep her by my bedside and by my chair in my therapy office. Anyone who sees me for any length of time has probably been read one of her poems at one time or another. And plenty of my clients keep copies of these poems to refer to. “The Summer Day”, “When Death Comes”, “In Blackwater Woods”, and “Wild Geese” - these poems are staples of both my spiritual practice and my practice as a psychotherapist.

In Portland, buying her latest book, “Thirst”, I puzzled at a new thread running thru some of her poems. Mary Oliver recently lost her partner of forty years, Molly Malone Cook. “Thirst” reverberates with this loss, and also documents her seeking comfort in her local church. The poet who reconnects me again and again to the holiness of grass and the splendor of a spider web now has poems which include the word “Lord”.

So I was curious, heading off to the reading, and frankly, a little worried. Would Mary Oliver spout Christian doctrine in a way that I would find alienating? Why the heck couldn’t she have found a circle of witches to work with? There must be some in Provincetown, right? Which poems would she read? The Christian ones? One of the myriad of things I’ve loved about her writing is that the one of us included all of us. Had this changed, was there now a sense that there was only one way of salvation that left many of us behind?

I left elated. The truth is, I still am. She read poems that gave comfort in a time when so many of us are reverberating from the violence that just occurred in Virginia and the bloodbath that is our foreign war. During the question period, a woman as politely as she could asked the famous poet about the new poems of Christian faith, which notably had not been read. From the woman’s tone and the way she phrased her careful words, including “earth-based spirituality” it was clear she held my same fears. The poet told the audience that she went crazy for a year after Molly died, and that although her need for the church she’d found was waning, she had really been impressed with the robes and all the beautiful trappings. Her next book would not be called “Thirst” she said, clearly letting us know that she had taken succor where she found it and was now once again finding the divine in her woods and wild places.

All in all, it comes down to this – the love of this earth and the holding it as sacred and divine. This, and the striving for kindness. If there is line between us and them, this, for me, is it. Mary Oliver’s words root me in awe of this planet and in kindness towards all life. Seeing her last night, I know that she is the woman of her words. I am so grateful.