Mary Oliver passed away last week and the earth lost one of its true voices and friends. When I was a college freshman, I had the good fortune to have taken a poetry class with Mary Oliver. I remember that special time as such a lucky gift.
When Mary O. Taught Us
In a small, walnut room
Our loose circle sat weekly
Only nine of us with her,
As we read our raw words in wobbly voices
And she listened
So carefully.
As we read and fed each other,
The impossibility of her being there
fell away.
And she guided us on,
Teaching us to choose more carefully,
see more deeply, and
let the fears of unworthiness pass,
So that our voices may
flow more freely.
Claudia Browne, January 22, 2019
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