{"id":6883,"date":"2020-12-04T09:40:01","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T16:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6883"},"modified":"2020-12-04T09:40:01","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T16:40:01","slug":"mary-oliver-what-is-there-beyond-knowing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/04\/mary-oliver-what-is-there-beyond-knowing\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Oliver – What is There Beyond Knowing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is There Beyond Knowing?
\nby Mary Oliver<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is there beyond knowing that keeps
\ncalling to me? I can\u2019t<\/p>\n

turn in any direction
\nbut it\u2019s there. I don\u2019t mean<\/p>\n

the leaves\u2019 grip and shine or even the thrush\u2019s
\nsilk song, but the far-off<\/p>\n

fires, for example,
\nof the stars, heaven\u2019s slowly turning<\/p>\n

theater of light, or the wind
\nplayful with its breath;<\/p>\n

or time that\u2019s always rushing forward,
\nor standing still<\/p>\n

in the same \u2014 what shall I say \u2014
\nmoment.<\/p>\n

What I know
\nI could put into a pack<\/p>\n

as if it were bread and cheese, and carry it
\non one shoulder,<\/p>\n

important and honorable, but so small!
\nWhile everything else continues, unexplained<\/p>\n

and unexplainable. How wonderful it is
\nto follow a thought quietly<\/p>\n

to its logical end.
\nI have done this a few times.<\/p>\n

But mostly I just stand in the dark field,
\nin the middle of the world, breathing<\/p>\n

in and out. Life so far doesn\u2019t have any other name
\nbut breath and light, wind and rain.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a temple, I haven\u2019t found it yet.
\nI simply go on drifting, in the heaven of the grass
\nand the weeds.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from New and Selected Poems<\/a>, by Mary Oliver<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by rema1n5<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll say much about this poem today, just encourage you to read it again, savoring its words\u2026<\/p>\n

heaven\u2019s slowly turning
\ntheater of light<\/i><\/p>\n

and its imagery\u2026<\/p>\n

But mostly I just stand in the dark field,
\nin the middle of the world, breathing<\/p>\n

in and out. Life so far doesn\u2019t have any other name
\nbut breath and light, wind and rain.<\/i><\/p>\n

and finding the peace and self-acceptance held within.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a temple, I haven\u2019t found it yet.
\nI simply go on drifting, in the heaven of the grass
\nand the weeds.<\/i><\/p>\n

Have a beautiful day!<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Mary Oliver<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New and Selected Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nWhy I Wake Early<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nDream Work<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nHouse of Light<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThirst: Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Mary<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nMary Oliver<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (1935 \u2013 2019) Timeline<\/a>
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Mary Oliver was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1935.<\/p>\n

As a young writer, Mary Oliver was influenced by Edna St. Vincent Millay and, in fact, as a teenager briefly lived in the home of the recently deceased Millay, helping to organize Millay\u2019s papers.<\/p>\n

Mary Oliver attended college at Ohio State University, and later at Vassar College.<\/p>\n

Mary Oliver\u2019s poetry is deeply aware of the natural world, particularly the birds and trees and ponds of her adopted state of Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Her collection of poetry \u201cAmerican Primitive\u201d won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Mary Oliver<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is There Beyond Knowing? by Mary Oliver What is there beyond knowing that keeps calling to me? I can\u2019t turn in any direction but it\u2019s there. I don\u2019t mean the leaves\u2019 grip and shine or even the thrush\u2019s silk song, but the far-off fires, for example, of the stars, heaven\u2019s slowly turning theater of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[525,2387,1275,1302,1722,675,93,2388,1261,814,1167],"class_list":["post-6883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-breath","tag-calling","tag-field","tag-grass","tag-knowing","tag-knowledge","tag-mary-oliver","tag-searching","tag-seeking","tag-self-acceptance","tag-yearning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6884,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6883\/revisions\/6884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}