My friend Mary Oliver
Every word was important to Mary Oliver, but the endings of her short writings and poems were often very special. They were no doors to be closed, but windows to new worlds, new beginnings. I love Mary Oliver's "My friend Walt Whitman". Especially when she stitches her own words with Whitman's for the ending. «I learned that the poem was made not just to exist, but to speak --to be company. It was everything that was needed, when everything was needed. I remember the delicate, rumpled way into the woods, and the weight of the books in my pack. I remember the ramblig, and the loafing --the wonderful days when, with Whitman, I tucked my trowser-ends in my boots and went and had a good time». So here I go too, into the woods, with Mary Oliver as my companion, teacher and trail-blazer. It will be a great day!