Listen to a rare Mary Oliver recording

Listen to a rare recording of Mary Oliver, the Pulitzer prize winning poet.

Last November, Mary Oliver give a reading in Seattle. Unlike some poets, Mary Oliver makes few public appearances and I have never seen or heard her give a reading. Also, she has just lost her life partner not long before the reading tour began. For what it's worth, I think you will come away knowing that she's the "real deal" when and about what she writes.

The local public radio station recorded her talk and part of it is now available, if you're interested, at:

http://www.kuow.org/defaultProgram.asp?ID=10055

The program begins (abruptly) with Mary Oliver reading "The Journey".... reprinted below

The Journey

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice --

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!

"each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do

--determined to save

the only life you could save.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(Dream Work)