Passing East Harbor, Without Words
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As I walked beside the water I saw something that never was there before— a tundra swan dipping its black beak and its snowy head into the water for the first green things just rising; and then, suddenly— and yet not hastily— it opened its wings, it lifted its body into the invisible air and rowed toward me, not seeing me, or caring. Then it settled again upon the seamless water— so white in the bright morning— and I put my hands together and oh, oh, oh, I said, which, you understand, can also be a prayer.
Mary Oliver is the author of several books of poetry, and is the recipient of the National Book Award, the Christopher Award, the L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. Beacon Press recently released a new CD of Ms. Oliver’s work entitled “Mary Oliver reads Mary Oliver,” and she recently released a new book of poems entitled Thirst (Beacon Press, 2006).
