Mary Oliver

Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

Sometimes

melancholy leaves me breathless…

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness

It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.

God, rest in my heart
and fortify me,
take away my hunger for answers,
let the hours play upon my body

now,
he said, and now,
and never once mentioned forever

Her poetry combines dark introspection with joyous release.