Wednesday, April 27, 2016

I Am Not a Musophobist

How's that for a word? I will save you the trouble of consulting your dictionary and tell you it means I am not a person who dislikes or mistrusts poetry. Au contraire!

Admittedly it is not my go to area of reading but I have come to appreciate it more in  recent years. Back in 2013 my beloved dog, Ivy passed away. Here she is:


Not long afterwards I came across a book of poems called Dog Songs, The writer was someone I'd never heard of before called Mary Oliver. Little did I know I was about to read the works of a Pulitzer Prize winning poet! Dog Songs is a love letter to our four-legged friends and speaks to the special relationship we have with them. I used the book as a grief journal, sometimes simply penciling in "Yes!" at something Ms. Oliver wrote. Other times I wrote more. It was very cathartic for me.


(Sorry if this is illegible - it's a personal indulgence to put it here in order for me to remember that I did this on that day when my memory is totally shot.)

I have gone on to read more of Mary Oliver's poetry.


I will end with a quote from Mary Oliver's Dog Songs. 

"What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this be like without dogs?"

Isn't reading a wonderful thing?
Penny


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