Gethsamane

By no means am i a poet, or do i even claim to be one. Poetry scares me. its so hard to understand and to get, and i feel so insecure and not OK when i hear something and it doesnt stir up anything in me.


A friend of mine got me hooked on Mary Oliver. Please remember, i do not claim to know anything about a good poem, or do i even claim to understand it. i went to purchase a book of poems by her at barnes & noble and my first thought was, "how dare i think i am smart enough to buy this and understand it." Thankfully i was struck by one of the poems so i bought it anyway. Maybe this is my leap into good poetry. my entry point to learn and grow and find something beautiful in it. Either way, i love this poem. Please enjoy it as much as i do...


Gethsemane
by Mary Oliver


The grass never sleeps,
Or the roses.
Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning.


Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.


The cricket has such splendid fringe on its feet,
and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,
and heaven knows if it ever sleeps.


Jesus said, wait with me. And maybe the stars did, maybe
the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn't move,
maybe
the lake far away, where once he walked as on a 
blue pavement,
lay still and waited, wild awake.


Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not
keep that vigil, how they must have wept,
so utterly human, knowing this too
must be a part of the story.






Courageously knowing nothing about poetry,
Lauren