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Singapore by Mary Oliver

Here: I got the line cuts and spacing all wrong, and for that I’m sorry, Mary Oliver. But I saw this from someone else’s book and there’s no way of knowing if I’m going to see that person again, and so all I can do is write this down. I hope you can forgive me, but it’s just so beautiful.

Singapore
Mary Oliver

In Singapore, in the airport,
A darkness was ripped from my eyes.
In the women’s restroom, one compartment stood open.
A woman knelt there, washing something in the white bowl.

Disgust argued in my stomach
and I felt, in my pocket, for my ticket.

A poem should always have birds in it.
Kingfishers, say, with their bold eyes and gaudy wings.
Rivers are pleasant, and of course trees.
A waterfall, or if that’s not possible, a fountain rising and falling.
A person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.

When the woman turned I could not answer her face.
Her beauty and her embarrassment struggled together,
and neither could win.
She smiled and I smiled. What kind of nonsense is this?
Everybody needs a job.

Yes, a person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.
But first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor,
which is dull enough.
She is washing the tops of the airport ashtrays, as big as hubcaps,
with a blue rag.
Her small hands turn the metal, scrubbing and rinsing.
She does not work slowly, nor quickly, like a river.
Her dark hair is like the wing of a bird.

I don’t doubt for a moment that she loves her life.
And I want her to rise up from the crust and the slop and
fly down to the river.
This probably won’t happen.
But maybe it will.
If the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?

Of course, it isn’t.
Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only
the light that can shine out of a life. I mean
the way she unfolded and refolded the blue cloth,
The way her smile was only for my sake; I mean
the way this poem is filled with trees, and birds.

Comments (5)

  • Lisa

    Poignant, beautiful. The woman starts of lowly and changes in our understanding to be dignified

    reply
  • As someone from Singapore, this is such a beautifully complex poem to slowly chew on. Thank you for sharing it 🙂

    reply
  • Benjamin Friesen

    I’m using this poem for a poetry class and came across it here. Thanks!
    And here’s the amended spacing:

    In Singapore, in the airport,
    a darkness was ripped from my eyes.
    In the women’s restroom, one compartment stood open.
    A woman knelt there, washing something
    in the white bowl.

    Disgust argued in my stomach
    and I felt, in my pocket, for my ticket.

    A poem should always have birds in it.
    Kingfishers, say, with their bold eyes and gaudy wings.
    Rivers are pleasant, and of course trees.
    A waterfall, or if that’s not possible, a fountain
    rising and falling.
    A person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.

    When the woman turned I could not answer her face.
    Her beauty and her embarrassment struggled together, and
    neither could win.
    She smiled and I smiled. What kind of nonsense is this?
    Everybody needs a job.

    Yes, a person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.
    But first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor,
    which is dull enough.
    She is washing the tops of the airport ashtrays, as big as
    hubcaps, with a blue rag.
    Her small hands turn the metal, scrubbing and rinsing.
    She does not work slowly, nor quickly, like a river.
    Her dark hair is like the wing of a bird.

    I don’t doubt for a moment that she loves her life.
    And I want her to rise up from the crust and the slop
    and fly down to the river.
    This probably won’t happen.
    But maybe it will.
    If the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?

    Of course, it isn’t.
    Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only
    the light that can shine out of a life. I mean
    the way she unfolded and refolded the blue cloth,
    the way her smile was only for my sake; I mean
    the way this poem is filled with trees, and birds.

    reply

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