Evidence: Poems by Mary Oliver
Beacon Press, 2009
Age range: Adults
If you're a poetry fan and a nature lover, I've got a new book for you: Mary Oliver's Evidence. It's full of many wonderful lines, like these from the title work: "I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in/singing, especially when singing is not necessarily/prescribed."
The poem that affected me the most, though, was "At the Pond," which ran originally at Orion Magazine and can be read online here. Oliver writes, "Nature has many mysteries,/some of them severe." A beautiful poem about "a huddle of just-hatched geese," it surely evokes sighs at readings.
Evidence is written for grown-ups, and aging is one of its themes. ("How did it come to be/that I am no longer young?") But it's very accessible work, and poetry-inclined teenagers ought to like it, too.
On July 5th, the New York Times' travel section ran this piece: "The Land and Words of Mary Oliver, the Bard of Provincetown," which includes a slide show and recordings of Oliver reading "At Blackwater Pond" and "The Sun." Mary Duenwald, who wrote the article, advises,
Follow Ms. Oliver’s lead to the edges of Blackwater Pond and you can have something approaching a primal experience of Cape Cod. You won’t be alone, especially in summer, when crowds gather to see the locally beloved water lilies that blanket the ponds. But that’s why it pays to go at dawn, as the poet prefers to do.
Oh thank you for this recommendation! My birthday is next week and this goes to the top of my list.
Posted by: Susan Taylor Brown | July 17, 2009 at 03:22 PM
Susan! You're going to love it. Happy birthday, too.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | July 17, 2009 at 04:51 PM
Great review! I'll be on the lookout for this!
Posted by: Kelly Fineman | July 17, 2009 at 11:03 PM
This is lovely. I do really like Mary Oliver, and am so grateful to have been introduced to her via Poetry Fridays.
Posted by: tanita | July 18, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Thanks, Kelly. I am enjoying re-reading the poems, too, and checked out a book of Mary Oliver's essays at the library today. One thing leads to another...
Tanita, me, too. One of the aspects of Oliver's writing that I enjoy so much is her gratitude. It's inspiring.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | July 18, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Thanks for the heads-up. There's always room for more Mary Oliver on my poetry shelf!
Posted by: Mary Lee | July 19, 2009 at 01:31 PM
Mary Lee, I just read another one by Mary Oliver that made me laugh with its delightful ending--Carrying the Snake to the Garden, from Long Life. Have you read it? Wonderful.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | July 20, 2009 at 11:45 AM
How did I miss that Mary Oliver is an Ohio author?!?!?
I don't know Carrying the Snake..., but Long Life is now on reserve from the library, along with Evidence, and an audio recording of Oliver reading her work.
I'll report back...
Posted by: Mary Lee | July 21, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Maybe because she has lived in Provincetown, MA, for so long.
I look forward to your report!
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | July 21, 2009 at 01:19 PM
Ooh! I didn't know about this. Will look for it at my library. Thank you.
Posted by: Jules | July 21, 2009 at 06:45 PM
Jules, I am really enjoying it!
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | July 21, 2009 at 08:15 PM
Okay. So this is really embarrassing. I got to the library to pick up Long Life...and I realized I already own it!
Love Carrying the Snake...I probably wouldn't have been that calm about grabbing it up!
Posted by: Mary Lee | July 23, 2009 at 01:53 PM
Mary Lee, that's hilarious. I've had that happen to me, too. I LOVED the part about the snake looking like it was about to sing. Such a delightful image.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | July 23, 2009 at 02:26 PM
its fantasic i am just enjoying dis great
Posted by: sunidhi | August 01, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Glad you like it! So do I.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | August 02, 2009 at 09:47 PM