Orcas Celebrates Poetry Month in April

Events are scheduled at the Orcas Center and the Orcas Library to celebrate April as Poetry Month.

“Poems in the Library “will display one or two pages of poetry by individual island poets throughout the month of April. Contributors are asked to bring one or two pages of their poetry to the library by March 28th.

Then on April 17th, an annual poetry reading event, “Orcas Reads Poetry,” takes place at  7:30 in the Madrona Room of Orcas Center. Poems may be original, read by the author, or works written by another.

If you wish to read, please contact edwilson@rockisland.com  or moldoff@rockisland.com by March 28th.

And now, a poem:
Such Singing in the Wild Branches

By Mary Oliver

It was spring
and finally I heard him
among the first leaves—
then I saw him clutching the limb

in an island of shade
with his red-brown feathers
all trim and neat for the new year.
First, I stood still

and thought of nothing.
Then I began to listen.
Then I was filled with gladness—
and that’s when it happened,

when I seemed to float,
to be, myself, a wing or a tree—
and I began to understand
what the bird was saying,

and the sands in the glass
stopped
for a pure white moment
while gravity sprinkled upward

like rain, rising,
and in fact
it became difficult to tell just what it was that was singing—
it was the thrush for sure, but it seemed

not a single thrush, but himself, and all his brothers,
and also the trees around them,
as well as the gliding, long-tailed clouds
in the perfectly blue sky— all, all of them

were singing.
And, of course, yes, so it seemed,
so was I.
Such soft and solemn and perfect music doesn’t last

for more than a few moments.
It’s one of those magical places wise people
like to talk about.
One of the things they say about it, that is true,

is that, once you’ve been there,
you’re there forever.
Listen, everyone has a chance.
Is it spring, is it morning?

Are there trees near you,
and does your own soul need comforting?
Quick, then— open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song
may already be drifting away.