The Journey

In honor of April being

national Poetry month

my favorite poem from Mary Oliver

The Journey

one day you finally knew

what you had to do and began

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old

tug at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried with stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

it was already late enough

and a wild night

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do

determined to save

the only life

you could save!

Mary Oliver

photo by Ed Earley