Somewhere along the way I have fallen in love with Mary Oliver and her poetry. It wasn’t something that I was looking for, and it didn’t happen overnight, but slowly but surely her words crept into my heart and have just stayed there. Often blunt, yet subtle, more conversational than structured, and yet always insightful, her poems are a delight to read.

As a Pulitzer award winning poet she speaks to the deep things of life, raising the questions that matter most: Why are we here? What is my purpose? What responsibility do I hold for those around me and for the world I inhabit? As I have grown older, those questions have become more and more important. Not that I want answers (are there really answers to those questions?) but to have those those questions raised again and again so that I can refocus my attention on what matters most rather than at what keeps me busy.

Felicity is Oliver’s collection of poems about love and the joy of that deep connection between human beings. She once said in an interview “If I have any secret stash of poems, anywhere, it might be about love, not anger.” In these poems she immerses us in the language of love and relationships and describes with joy the landscape of our hearts.

Tomorrow we will celebrate a marriage in our family. Marian and Chris, this poem is my wish for you, a blessing if you will, on your marriage and this new life that you are embarking on together and hope that you will continue to be for each other “…the hand that you like to hold!”

A Voice From I Don’t Know Where

It seems you love this world very much.

“Yes,” I said.  “This beautiful world.”

And you don’t mind the mind that keeps you

busy all the time with its dark and bright wonderings?

“No, I’m quite used to it.  Busy, busy all the time.”

And you don’t mind living with those questions,

I mean the hard ones that no one can answer?

“Actually, they’re the most interesting.”

And you have a person in your life whose

hand that you like to hold?

“Yes, I do.”

It must surely, then, be very happy down there in your heart.

“Yes,” I said. “It is.”

Brenda’s Rating: ***** (5 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Marian and Chris!

Book Study Worthy: Better read and savored than analyzed!

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