"The Journey"

Words hold powerful meaning in my life, not just in what they say but when and how they say it. This poem, by Mary Oliver, for instance. I heard Garrison Keeler read it on Writer's Almanac one morning, and at that precise moment it mirrored my life so cleanly that I felt like it was written for me...and that somehow Garrison had divined this knowledge and was broadcasting the words to sink into the marrow of my bones.

Enjoy...

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations--
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly
recognized as your own, that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.

-Mary Oliver

(Picture Credit: "Woman Spirit - The Questfilled Journey" Painting by Susan M. Spohn. www.spiritsculptures.net)