Poems for Summer’s End

It's that quiet time of summer when the birds are not singing so much. The air is heavy with moisture, and everyone is trying to squeeze in the last few vacations and beach trips.

While you soak in these quiet summer days, I hope you find joy and inspiration with these poems by Mary Oliver.

The Pond, by Mary Oliver
​​
August of another summer, and once again
I am drinking the sun
and the lilies again are spread across the water.
I know now what they want is to touch each other.
I have not been here for many years
during which time I kept living my life.
Like the heron, who can only croak, who wishes he
could sing,
I wish I could sing.
A little thanks from every throat would be appropriate.
This is how it has been, and this is how it is:
All my life I have been able to feel happiness,
except whatever was not happiness,
which I also remember.
Each of us wears a shadow.
But just now it is summer again
and I am watching the lilies bow to each other,
then slide on the wind and the tug of desire,
close, close to one another,
Soon now, I'll turn and start for home.
And who knows, maybe I'll be singing.

How I go to the wood, by Mary Oliver​
​​
Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single
friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore
unsuitable.
​
I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of
praying, as you no doubt have yours.
​
Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
unhearable sound of the roses singing.
​
If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love
you very much.

Photo byLukasz Szmigiel, via Unsplash