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Singapore

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Submitted By sonylda29
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Singapore, in the airport,
A darkness was ripped from my eyes.
In the women’s restroom, one compartment stood open.
A woman knelt there, washing something in the white bowl.

Disgust argued in my stomach and I felt, in my pocket, for my ticket.

A poem should always have birds in it.
Kingfishers, say, with their bold eyes and gaudy wings.
Rivers are pleasant, and of course trees.
A waterfall, or if that’s not possible, a fountain rising and falling.
A person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.

When the woman turned I could not answer her face.
Her beauty and her embarrassment struggled together, and neither could win.
She smiled and I smiled. What kind of nonsense is this?
Everybody needs a job.

Yes, a person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.
But first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor, which is dull enough.
She is washing the tops of the airport ashtrays, as big as hubcaps, with a blue rag.
Her small hands turn the metal, scrubbing and rinsing.
She does not work slowly, nor quickly, like a river.
Her dark hair is like the wing of a bird.

I don’t doubt for a moment that she loves her life.
And I want her to rise up from the crust and the slop and fly down to the river.
This probably won’t happen.
But maybe it will.
If the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?

Of course, it isn’t.
Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only the light that can shine out of a life. I mean the way she unfolded and refolded the blue cloth,
The way her smile was only for my sake; I mean the way this poem is filled with trees, and birds.

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Reckless Poem by Mary Oliver
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~ by T. on March 30, 2008.

Posted in Mary Oliver
One Response to “Singapore by Mary Oliver”

Poignant, beautiful. The woman starts of lowly and changes in our understanding to be dignified
Lisa said this on March 4, 2013 at 4:49 am | Reply
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Dear Stranger
"To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work." ― Mary Oliver, from Yes! No!

"Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you."
— Kahlil Gibran, from Sand and Foam

"But that woman, that woman: bent forward with her head in her hands, she'd completely fallen into herself."
— Rainer Maria Rilke, from The Notebooks of Malte Lauris Brigge
About
Why I read poetry, and why this exists it might take a while, but i will write back — so here: readalittlepoetry at gmail dot com
In the meantime, here are some old letters.
Lately
Late Fragment by Raymond Carver

"And what did you want? / To call myself beloved, to feel myself / beloved on the earth."
And for something new—
A random poem, a random day, a chance
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