Wild words
Cindy on May 2nd, 2010
What more could I do with wild words?” — Mary Oliver
I’m a cat lover and a morning person, so Mary Oliver‘s “Morning” spoke to me the first time I read it. And each time I revisit the poem, something else strikes me.
Last week, for instance, a student in one of my workshops told me that list-making helps her get started when she’s trying to write a piece. Note how the first few lines of Oliver’s poem, below, work as a list of her morning observations. And note how the cat becomes a metaphor for “wild words,” and how, once again, the most ordinary experiences are sheer poetry. — CL
Morning
By Mary Oliver
Salt shining behind its glass cylinder.
Milk in a blue bowl. The yellow linoleum.
The cat stretching her black body from the pillow.
The way she makes her curvaceous response to the small, kind gesture.
Then laps the bowl clean.
Then wants to go out into the world
where she leaps lightly and for no apparent reason across the lawn,
then sits, perfectly still, in the grass.
I watch her a little while, thinking:
what more could I do with wild words?
I stand in the cold kitchen, bowing down to her.
I stand in the cold kitchen, everything wonderful around me.
–Reprinted from New and Selected Poems, by Mary Oliver; Beacon Press; Boston; 2005.
–Top Photo: Our wonderful cat, Jack, was a “wild thing” from the local animal shelter. –
May 2nd, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Oh what a handsome kitty! Plus a perfect poem to think about when I am pouring the milk tomorrow morning for my kitty.
May 2nd, 2010 at 4:10 pm
We’ve been in the Smokies for a week and I’m just catching up. I’ve been missing our cats and smiled when your sweet cat picture and post came up on the screen. A good welcome home.
May 2nd, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Another gem by Mary Oliver that I haven’t read before now. Thank you, Cindy. I love that my Mary Oliver “repetoire” continues to expand. Jack is a keeper:)
May 3rd, 2010 at 6:43 am
I love this – so simple and elegant! A lovely way to start my day, thanks Cindy.
May 3rd, 2010 at 7:57 am
So glad you’re enjoying more of Mary Oliver, everyone! I’ll be including more of her work from “Owls and Other Fantasies,” another gorgeous book of her poems and essays. It’s easy to see why she’s a Pulitzer Prize winner.
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Cats have the prettiest eyes.
I do love Mary Oliver.
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:57 pm
I once read that Mary Oliver’s work was criticized for it’s simplicity. It’s stating of the obvious.
I think that can be the point. How do we see , unless we look.
I’m severely allergic to cats… but appreciate yours from afar!
May 4th, 2010 at 4:56 am
I could look into a cats eyes all day. Lists- what a great idea! 5am,sweet call of a warbler,waiting for coffee….
May 4th, 2010 at 8:05 am
Beautiful words indeed, but I am not in any way, shape, or form a morning person and I have 2 dogs.
Mine would read something like this.
Dirty paw prints on the tile.
whining to go out…again,
big yawn from me,
crap, it’s still raining:)
May 4th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Bridgette — LOVE it!