Mary Oliver helps me stay sane too--thanks for posting this. Have you ever read any of John-Cory? You can find him at:

http://www.john-cory.com/pages/1/index.htm

See especially the section on "War and Politics"--Let me know what you think.

It may be the unconscious job of the poets to keep us sane. Google up Wislawa Szymborska. Here's one of hers. It's hardly a comfort.

The End and the Beginning
by Wislawa Szymborska

After every war
someone has to clean up.
Things won't
straighten themselves up, after all.

Someone has to push the rubble
to the sides of the road,
so the corpse-laden wagons
can pass.

Someone has to get mired
in scum and ashes,
sofa springs,
splintered glass,
and bloody rags.

Someone must drag in a girder
to prop up a wall.
Someone must glaze a window,
rehang a door.

Photogenic it's not,
and takes years.
All the cameras have left
for another war.

Again we'll need bridges
and new railway stations.
Sleeves will go ragged
from rolling them up.

Someone, broom in hand,
still recalls how it was.
Someone listens
and nods with unsevered head.
Yet others milling about
already find it dull.

From behind the bush
sometimes someone still unearths
rust-eaten arguments
and carries them to the garbage pile.

Those who knew
what was going on here
must give way to
those who know little.
And less than little.
And finally as little as nothing.

In the grass which has overgrown
causes and effects,
someone must be stretched out,
blade of grass in his mouth,
gazing at the clouds.

I can't believe I forgot to ask Barbara (or Susan since you are obviously a fan) from which collection of Mary Oliver's did this work come?

Funny you should ask. I googled the poem to find which collection it's from, and there are some sites that say it's actually by Judyth Hill, but often attributed to Mary Oliver. Hmmm. Enough of them to make me think that it's not a Mary Oliver poem after all. Barb, do you know?
Also, did you know that Mary Oliver will be here in Mpls. in May? The tickets sold out in less than a day.

Crikey! I have always assumed (always being a relative term here) that Mary Oliver wrote that piece. Never thought to second-guess it. Now I must. Let me do some due diligence here.

Very moving. I have a Polish friend who has given me several volumes of her work. It's both heartfelt and moving and thoughtful. Thanks for this one...

Susan purred:

Also, did you know that Mary Oliver will be here in Mpls. in May? The tickets sold out in less than a day.

********************

Gloat, gloat, gloat--I envy you the pleasure of your evening

Hey, what makes you think I got any of 'em? Well -- okay. I did. But I was stifling my gloat, or so I thought. So here's a question. If you knew that I got tix, do you know me? And therefore know how I came to get them? Now you've got me wondering, Poet, just who you are.

Susan wonders:

So here's a question. If you knew that I got tix, do you know me? And therefore know how I came to get them? Now you've got me wondering, Poet, just who you are. (sic--you forgot ?)

********************

I am as near as your next breath and as far away as the next galaxy, I am the one before whom all your secret thoughts and imaginings are plainly naked and unashamed as are all mine before you, You have never met me and always known me.

Okay now the actual facts: Earlier (before Barbara "corrected" her mistaken attribution) there was a post by you that said that despite having sold out in 12 hours you managed to get a ticket, actually two (at that point i was going to ask if I could go with you but since we have not yet been formally introduced it seemed a bit presumptious--although for the chance to hear Mary Oliver I actually considered it.)

For a more formal introduction check out my email address in the confidential blog post file and write me off blog!--Tee Hee Hee!)

Yer killin' me. Confidential blog post file? C'mon, I just do the wash and hang the linen. My next breath is in bed --my dreams in the next galaxy. Next clue?