When I am Among The Trees - Mary Oliver

Poem read by Shamis
"When I Am Among The Trees" is about the calmness, majesty, and beauty of being surrounded by trees and walking in the woods
Mary Jane Oliver was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize
Her work is inspired by nature, rather than the human world, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary walks in the wild
It is characterized by a sincere wonderment at the impact of natural imagery, conveyed in unadorned language
In 2007 she was declared to be the country's best-selling poet

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

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