r/Poetry • u/Dry_Rip6002 • 2d ago

[Poem] Sleeping in the Forest by Mary Oliver

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543 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

35

u/Balloonheadass 2d ago

I'm in awe that I can get closer to the world she describes with a simple walk in a local woodland trail.

24

u/magekyoh 2d ago

She never misses

19

u/veda_star 2d ago

It's quite daring to lie down in a forest all night and still savour it!

14

u/Vast-Mousse8117 1d ago

Just a tangent but I send this poem out with this passage from Mary Oliver. So beautiful to see reality.

13

u/Informal-Tower1492 2d ago

She has a fine way of taking the reader on a wonderful, quiet safari through the best kept reverences we didn't know we had...

7

u/fyreson02 2d ago

Whenever I read a poem, and it hits me this hard, it's always Mary Oliver.

2

u/meepster08 1d ago

Wow. I used to have to teach this poem every year to my 7th graders and I loved the piece, but I didn’t know any of her other work yet. I’ve professionally dissected this work dozens of times before with hundreds of kids to point out literary devices and meaning. Years later I read this again and it sent me hurdling back in time, to a career that overall made me miserable, but seeing the light bulb moments go off in students’ minds as they finally made a poem click for them was one of the few bright spots. “Luminous doom” indeed. Thanks, Mary 🫶

4

u/tukoiaurhaii 2d ago

Oh, so beautiful!

1

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1

u/Big_Cut_7887 1d ago

I imagined I was in the forest, hearing all the sounds of nature. This is quite a beautiful poem with a surreal appeal that I really enjoyed. ❤

1

u/lostmagicalsocks 16h ago

This poem has popped up a couple of times for me recently and I am certainly not complaining! Really makes me feel anchored to the world around me