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More poems by Mary OliverMary Oliver | Print this page.Print | Order a PoetryNotes Analysis of this poem.Analysis | View and Write CommentsComments

After Arguing Against The Contention That Art Must Come From Discontent

Mary Oliver

   
Whispering to each handhold, "I'll be back,"
I go up the cliff in the dark. One place
I loosen a rock and listen a long time
till it hits, faint in the gulf, but the rush
of the torrent almost drowns it out, and the wind --
I almost forgot the wind: it tears at your side
or it waits and then buffets; you sag outward...

I remember they said it would be hard. I scramble
by luck into a little pocket out of
the wind and begin to beat on the stones
with my scratched numb hands, rocking back and forth
in silent laughter there in the dark--
"Made it again!" Oh how I love this climb!
-- the whispering to the stones, the drag, the weight
as your muscles crack and ease on, working
right. They are back there, discontent,
waiting to be driven forth. I pound
on the earth, riding the earth past the stars:
"Made it again! Made it again!" 

Added: 2 Mar 2002 | Last Read: 12 Feb 2012 6:01 AM | Viewed: 11707 times

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URL: http://plagiarist.com/poetry/3146/ | Viewed on 12 February 2012.
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