Then….
excerpt from
To Begin With, the Sweet Grass
by Mary Oliver
7.
What I loved in the beginning, I think,
was mostly myself.
Never mind that I had to, since some-
body had to.
That was many years ago.
Since then I have gone out from my
confinements,
though with difficulty.
I mean the ones that thought to rule my
heart.
I cast them out, I put them on the mush
pile.
They will be nourishment somehow
(everything is nourishment
somehow or another).
And I have become the child of the
clouds, and of hope.
I have become the friend of the enemy,
whoever that is.
I have become older and, cherishing
what I have learned,
I have become younger.
And what do I risk to tell you this,
which is all I know?
Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love
the world.