Of Love by Mary Oliver
I have been in love more times than one,
thank the Lord. Sometimes it was lasting
whether active or not. Sometimes
it was all but ephemeral, maybe only
an afternoon, but not less real for that.
They stay in my mind, these beautiful people,
or anyway beautiful people to me, of which
there are so many. You, and you, and you,
whom I had the fortune to meet, or maybe
missed. Love, love, love, it was the
core of my life, from which, of course, comes
the word for the heart. And, oh, have I mentioned
that some of them were men and some were women
and some — now carry my revelation with you —
were trees. Or places. Or music flying above
the names of their makers. Or clouds, or the sun
which was the first, and the best, the most
loyal for certain, who looked so faithfully into
my eyes, every morning. So I imagine
such love of the world — its fervency, its shining, its
innocence and hunger to give of itself — I imagine
this is how it began. Art by Federico Infante
Recommended Listening: Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Hit the Studio Together Orange Ball of Hate - The Mountain Goats (Radio Session)
Links of the Day: Podcast: Listening to the world with Mary Oliver
A Penguin Love Story in Paris Found: Walt Whitman’s Guide to ‘Manly Health’ How to Get Ketchup From a Bottle Without the Wait, Watery Goo and Splatter
(With this gorgeous Mary Oliver poem, I'd also like to reopen my inbox to submissions for The Alipore Post zine, which is finally back on track. I've been too distracted by other wonderful things these past few months but with my life resuming some semblance of order, I'm returning to this dream project with double the passion.
Poems, illustrations, paintings, comics, short stories, photo essays, haiku, send it all :)
Deadline: March 6th (Monday), midnight.)