( Owls and Other Fantasies p10) - by noticing such in the world we are then able to respond with gestures that are honourable, partake in dialogues that are loving. This happens when we intuitively identify with that ‘wild silky part of ourselves.’ Noticing, as in her poem Little Dog’s Rhapsody in the Night, the ‘expressive sounds’ a dog makes when ‘he turns upside down, his four paws in the air /and his eyes dark and fervent’ ( Dog Songs p51), the motion of a swan over water, as in her poem The Swan, and their ‘miraculous muscles’ and ‘clouds’ of wings. Suffering is real, lament is necessary, but so too more life-giving is our capacity for joy and re-awakening. 1124 quotes from Mary Oliver: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life, You do not have to be good. It also invites us to turn our attention towards those things which are sustaining, nourishing, offer beauty. Increasingly Mary Oliver’s poetry urges the reader to choose to live a life that contains empathy, connection, presence, this ‘only once’ experience of life. Both these volumes of poetry were published in the years soon after the death of Mary Oliver’s partner for over 40 years, Molly Malone Cook in 2005.
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