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Poetry Sunday: Goldenrod by Mary Oliver

Let's have another Mary Oliver poem, shall we? One that celebrates the season and the plant much loved by bees. And me. 

Goldenrod

by Mary Oliver
On roadsides,
in fall fields,
in rumpy bunches,
saffron and orange and pale gold,
in little towers,
soft as mash,
sneeze-bringers and seed-bearers,
full of bees sand yellow beads and perfect flowerlets
and orange butterflies.
I don’t suppose
much notice comes of it, except for honey,
and how it heartens the heart with its
blank blaze.
I don’t suppose anything loves it, except, perhaps,
the rocky voids
filled by its dumb dazzle.
For myself,
I was just passing by, when the wind flared
and the blossoms rustled,
and the glittering pandemonium
leaned on me.
I was just minding my own business
when I found myself on their straw hillsides,
citron and butter-colored,
and was happy, and why not?
Are not the difficult labors of our lives
full of dark hours?
And what has consciousness come to anyway, so far,
that is better than these light-filled bodies?
All day
on their airy backbones
they toss in the wind,
they bend as though it was natural and godly to bend,
they rise in a stiff sweetness,
in the pure peace of giving
one’s gold away.

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Comments

  1. jabblogOctober 20, 2024 at 4:45 AM

    That is a lovely celebration of something so easily taken for granted.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzOctober 20, 2024 at 4:51 AM

    I love how Mary Oliver first looks over an object in nature and then reflects on it, both truthfully and beautifully.

    ReplyDelete
  3. David M. Gascoigne,October 20, 2024 at 5:33 AM

    She is a force! And so are goldenrods - gloriously beautiful flowers that are underestimated by most.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AlanaOctober 20, 2024 at 8:14 AM

    I love goldenrods and we had one of the best bloom I've seen from them this year. Stiff beauty indeed! Loved this poem.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lark October 20, 2024 at 10:19 AM

    I love Mary Oliver's poems! The way she puts words together like 'in rumpy bunches' is also so clever and fun and descriptive. :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. BrendaSeptember 9, 2025 at 1:01 PM

    In all seriousness, Mary Oliver is a fantastic author. So glad we had the opportunity to read her poem.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousOctober 2, 2025 at 10:10 AM

    So lovely and so true!!

    ReplyDelete

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