Saturday is for the Arts

I have shared excerpts of poems by Mary Oliver on my blog several times. She is one of my favorite poets. Her most recent book, Thirst, is worth purchasing if you have any interest in poetry whatsoever. I find her accessible, and she has a lightness of touch that draws the reader into the depth of meaning. In Thirst she intertwines her love for nature with her new found faith in God.

The last poem in her book with the same title captures what I have described above. I want to share a few lines to whet your appetite.

Another morning and I wake with thirst
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons...Who
knows what will finally happen or
where I will be sent, yet already I have
given a great many things away, expect-
ing to be told to pack nothing, except the
prayers which, with this thirst, I am
slowly learning.