Look, the treesare turningtheir own bodiesinto pillarsof light, are giving off the richfragrance of cinnamonand fulfillment, the long tapersof cattailsare bursting and floating away overthe blue shouldersof the ponds, and every pond, no matter what itsname is, isnameless now. Every yeareverything I have ever learnedin my lifetimeleads back to this: the firesand the black river of losswhose other sideis salvation, whose meaningnone of us will ever know. To live in this worldyou must be ableto do three things:to love what is mortal;to hold itagainst your bones knowingyour own life depends on it;and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go. Mary Oliver
About This Quote

This is a poem by the American poet Anne Sexton. It refers to the fact that she is learning to overcome her fear of death by learning to accept it, and to live in the moment. It also refers to the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

Source: New And Selected Poems, Vol. 1

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  3. The poet's job is to put into words those feelings we all have that are so deep, so important, and yet so difficult to name, to tell the truth in such a beautiful way, that people cannot live without it. - Jane Kenyon
  4. Truth is a friendthat asks for loyaltyand acceptancethen it enters our heartsdissolving the boundariesfreeing us from lonliness - Nirmala
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More Quotes By Mary Oliver
  1. Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.
  2. Why I Wake Early Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who made the morningand spread it over the fieldsand into the faces of the tulipsand the nodding morning glories, and into the windows of, even, themiserable and the crotchety — best preacher that ever...
  3. You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.
  4. When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it is over, I don't want to wonderif I have made of my life something particular, and...
  5. To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.
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