Praying by Mary Oliver

Praying
Mary Oliver

It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

SELECTED BY SOPHIE HOWARTH

It’s hard to choose a favourite from the many Mary Oliver poems I carry around tattooed to my heart. But Praying captures what I love most in her writing: an emphasis on the divinity in all things, and an invitation to understand poetry as a practice of paying attention.

Mary Oliver has a reputation for communing with trees, listening to birdsong and admiring grasshoppers. It’s true that she generally preferred the company of wild things to that of humans. But she was not languishing while she wandered through the woods every day. She was looking and listening intently, opening herself more and more to receive the wisdom of the natural world rather than imposing her own ideas onto it. She spent a lifetime training herself to truly pay attention, something more and more of us struggle to do today.

I like her poetry best when it is brisk and to the point. There is nothing sentimental about Praying. She only wants to remind us that the world is full of wonders, she reminds us, and very often they are hiding in plain sight. Our only task is to get over the empty labour of self-absorption so the fullness of the world can reveal itself.

I included this poem in my book Everyday Wonder, paired with a beautiful photograph taken by the British artist Jenny Lewis. It’s a scene most of us would simply walk past: a few fallen blossoms, yellowing leaves and fleeting shadows. How much beauty do we walk past every day, lost in thought or tethered to to do lists?

For me, the best poets and photographers don’t scramble to try and make things elaborate. They have enough confidence to move their egos out of the way, and just hold open the door for beauty to reveal itself.

ABOUT SOPHIE HOWARTH

Sophie Howarth is an artist and writer from the UK. Her work explores wildness and wonder, justice and joy. Her books include Everyday Wonder: How to find beauty in the ordinary, Looking at Trees, the Mindful Photographer and Street Photography Now. She teaches an online course called The Poetry Habit through The Poetry Pharmacy.