Friday, March 30, 2012

When Death Comes


When Death Comes

Mary Oliver


When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse.

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox;

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
ending, as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

Source: Teaching With Fire

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