TRANSCRIPT

I’m Maggie Smith, and this is The Slowdown.

You might recall that a little while back, we asked you, our community of listeners, to suggest poems for the show. We produced a week of those episodes, and those five listeners introduced the poems they selected. I especially loved hearing your stories and your connections to the poems.

But of course, there were more than five suggestions that came in — more than we could do in a week. I looked at the selections and chose a few to introduce myself on The Slowdown.

There was one poet who was suggested more than any other, and I don’t think the name will surprise you: Mary Oliver.

The late Mary Oliver is one of this country’s most read poets. A national treasure. Her work touched millions of people deeply, and not only those who consider themselves poets or poetry lovers. Her work managed to do something rare: It reached people who didn’t particularly like or “get” contemporary poetry. Oliver once told NPR that simplicity was important to her. “Poetry, to be understood, must be clear,” she said. “It mustn’t be fancy.” Oliver’s poems are clear but not simple. They are full of wisdom and joy and deep loneliness and gratitude.

Her poem “Wild Geese,” which begins, “You do not have to be good,” is a poem I see shared on the internet nearly weekly, and its power is not diminished by the number of shares. It feels as true and relevant as ever.

Do you know another American poet whose work has been more shared, more memed, more — dare I say it — bumper stickered? I don’t. My favorite Mary Oliver bumper sticker reads: “Honk if you’re letting the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”

I will automatically let you merge in front of my car, and maybe I will even forgive you going under the speed limit, if I see that bumper sticker, because I know you’re my people. You’re a kindred spirit. If you love the work of Mary Oliver, you love the natural world, and you pay attention to it, and you care.

You have one of our listeners to thank for today’s poem — well, one of our listeners for suggesting it, and the beloved Mary Oliver for writing it.

Someday
by Mary Oliver

Even the oldest of the trees continues its wonderful labor.
Hummingbird lives in one of them.
He’s there for the white blossoms, and the secrecy.
The blossoms could be snow, with a dash of pink.
At first the fruit is small and green and hard.
Everything has dreams, hope, ambition.

If I could I would always live in such shining obedience
where nothing but the wind trims the boughs.
I am sorry for every mistake I have made in my life.
I’m sorry I wasn’t wiser sooner.
I’m sorry I ever spoke of myself as lonely.

Oh, love, lay your hands upon me again.
Some of the fruit ripens and is picked and is delicious. 
Some of it falls and the ants are delighted.
Some of it hides under the snow and the famished deer are saved.

“Someday” by Mary Oliver. From RED BIRD. Used by the permission of The Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency as agent for the author. Copyright © 2008 by Mary Oliver with permission of Bill Reichblum.