Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Moths

There’s a kind of white moth, I don’t know
what kind, that glimmers
by mid-May
in the forest, just
as the pink mocassin flowers
are rising.

If you notice anything,
it leads you to notice
more
and more.

And anyway
I was so full of energy.
I was always running around, looking
at this and that.

If I stopped
the pain
was unbearable.

If I stopped and thought, maybe
the world
can’t be saved,
the pain
was unbearable.

Finally, I noticed enough.
All around me in the forest
the white moths floated.

How long do they live, fluttering
in and out of the shadows?

You aren’t much, I said
one day to my reflection
in a green pond,
and grinned.

The wings of the moths catch the sunlight
and burn
so brightly.

At night, sometimes,
they slip between the pink lobes
of the moccasin flowers and lie there until dawn,
motionless
in those dark halls of honey.

-Mary Oliver

6 comments:

Christine said...

lovely lovely mary oliver!!

Mark said...

'Miracle' from mira

Simply by looking at creation, as is, we can see the Risen Christ: an Immaculate Conception occurring, here and now in the mind of God. And this Son is all around you, the whole Universe is One.

Pay attention to the Fiery Lamb, dear miracle moths!

Xx

LBelle said...

Wow Mark, maybe I was wrong, I am not the only evangelical on this board! HEEE HEEE!! Beautiful poem ginger, you are amazingly talented

Ginger said...

Yes Fougs, LOVELY Mary Oliver!

Dear Corduroy Kid, it is nice to experience the poet again. And it's a beautiful observation, though the fiery lamb leaves me sad.. Also, Dante wrote about a frozen hell because he felt that fire, though it burns, provides light; and there would be no light in hell.. Which reminds me of Robert Frost's poem, "Fire and Ice"

'Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.'

Lala, I'm afraid my only talent here is that I spaced correctly between each stanza. Ms. Oliver is responsible for the rest. :)

Mark said...

No need to be sad, although I often feel the same about such earthly transience (not to mention intransigence). God looks after everyone in the hereafter

LBelle said...

you are still brilliant, I don't care who wrote it. ;-)

Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Moths

There’s a kind of white moth, I don’t know
what kind, that glimmers
by mid-May
in the forest, just
as the pink mocassin flowers
are rising.

If you notice anything,
it leads you to notice
more
and more.

And anyway
I was so full of energy.
I was always running around, looking
at this and that.

If I stopped
the pain
was unbearable.

If I stopped and thought, maybe
the world
can’t be saved,
the pain
was unbearable.

Finally, I noticed enough.
All around me in the forest
the white moths floated.

How long do they live, fluttering
in and out of the shadows?

You aren’t much, I said
one day to my reflection
in a green pond,
and grinned.

The wings of the moths catch the sunlight
and burn
so brightly.

At night, sometimes,
they slip between the pink lobes
of the moccasin flowers and lie there until dawn,
motionless
in those dark halls of honey.

-Mary Oliver

6 comments:

Christine said...

lovely lovely mary oliver!!

Mark said...

'Miracle' from mira

Simply by looking at creation, as is, we can see the Risen Christ: an Immaculate Conception occurring, here and now in the mind of God. And this Son is all around you, the whole Universe is One.

Pay attention to the Fiery Lamb, dear miracle moths!

Xx

LBelle said...

Wow Mark, maybe I was wrong, I am not the only evangelical on this board! HEEE HEEE!! Beautiful poem ginger, you are amazingly talented

Ginger said...

Yes Fougs, LOVELY Mary Oliver!

Dear Corduroy Kid, it is nice to experience the poet again. And it's a beautiful observation, though the fiery lamb leaves me sad.. Also, Dante wrote about a frozen hell because he felt that fire, though it burns, provides light; and there would be no light in hell.. Which reminds me of Robert Frost's poem, "Fire and Ice"

'Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.'

Lala, I'm afraid my only talent here is that I spaced correctly between each stanza. Ms. Oliver is responsible for the rest. :)

Mark said...

No need to be sad, although I often feel the same about such earthly transience (not to mention intransigence). God looks after everyone in the hereafter

LBelle said...

you are still brilliant, I don't care who wrote it. ;-)