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THE POET'S VOICE<br />
<strong>March</strong> poetry and Mary Oliver<br />
We received a poem from a “local” poet. Read<br />
on! And Mary Oliver died in late January. This<br />
poem is for her. I’m certain of it.<br />
“The Shuttle”<br />
Back of a pickup<br />
Crushed bodies down low<br />
Catching a ride to the top, sometimes below<br />
Why I love the shuttle?<br />
Wind in your hair, a river coming into view<br />
Sometimes an old one, sometimes new<br />
Laughter; nerves for some if bigger water than<br />
before<br />
Butterflies fluttering in their core<br />
Companionship of kindred spirits, encouragement<br />
from your crew<br />
Anticipation builds and excitement brews<br />
By the time the shuttle is complete, reassurances to<br />
the nervous ones replete<br />
Why I love the shuttle?<br />
I get to know the driver too<br />
Like being invited into someone’s home<br />
You can learn a lot about who transports you<br />
What music plays on their radio, how crazy they<br />
drive, fast or slow<br />
The route and way they prefer to go<br />
What tools or odds and ends are lying on their floor<br />
All the little clues that helps me get to know them<br />
more<br />
So much more than just a shuttle~<br />
A time to bond and learn names and faces<br />
For when we finally get on that river<br />
We are no longer strangers but forever river friends<br />
from all over places<br />
©️JoAndra P. Proia<br />
1/21/18<br />
I must include Mary Oliver’s poem, . It is<br />
from her final book, Thirst.<br />
“Praying”<br />
It doesn’t have to be<br />
the blue iris, it could be<br />
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few<br />
small stones; just<br />
pay attention, then patch<br />
a few words together and don’t try to<br />
make them elaborate, this isn’t<br />
a contest but the doorway<br />
into thanks, and a silence in which<br />
another voice may speak.<br />
This poem could also be titltled “Writing.” Writing<br />
is a lot like praying. You need to pay attention,<br />
and listen.<br />
Another poem by Mary Oliver is “Today,” from<br />
By Carol Bjorlie — “THE POET BEHIND THE CELLO”<br />
The Swan.<br />
“Today”<br />
today is a day of<br />
dark clouds and slow rain.<br />
The little blades of corn<br />
are so happy.<br />
You know I can’t get enough of Mary Oliver.<br />
Here’s another from Why I Wake Early<br />
“Look and See”<br />
This moring, at waterside, a sparrow flew<br />
to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back<br />
of an eider duck; lightly it fluttered off, amused.<br />
The duck, too, was not provoked, but, you might<br />
say, was<br />
laughing.<br />
This afternoon a gull sailing over<br />
our house was casually scratching<br />
its stomach of white feathers with one<br />
pink foot as it flew.<br />
Works In<br />
Translation<br />
Book Club<br />
Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us,<br />
if we only look, and see.<br />
To me, Mary was the Saint of Observing, and<br />
capable of letting us in on the view.<br />
‘Til April. You will hear from me then. SEND<br />
POEMS!!<br />
— Carol Bjorlie<br />
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24 |RAPIDRIVERMAGAZINE.COM | RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE | VOL. 22, NO. 07 — MARCH <strong>2019</strong>
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