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More poems by Mary OliverMary Oliver | Print this page.Print | View and Write CommentsComments (2) | Books by Mary OliverBooks by Mary Oliver

Sleeping In The Forest

Mary Oliver

I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds.
I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
among the branches of the perfect trees.
All night I heard the small kingdoms
breathing around me, the insects,
and the birds who do their work in the darkness.
All night I rose and fell, as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.

Added: 2 Mar 2002 | Last Read: 7 Jun 2025 5:02 PM | Viewed: 13639 times

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URL: http://plagiarist.com/poetry/3176/ | Viewed on 7 June 2025.
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