Tuesday, August 19,\u00a0Day after University Convocation<\/p>\n
“Convocation,” a calling together of women and men who work at the university. \u00a0 A rich variety of people from around the state, around the country, and around the wide world. \u00a0This is a University. \u00a0So in between the formal convocation spaces, lots of story telling goes on. \u00a0 With some intimate friends we have kept up all summer no matter where our travels took us, but some people tell us important news now, as the academic year settles in: \u00a0some serious sicknesses, some moments of astonishing beauty, a contemplative vacation time, someone close who has died. \u00a0 So many stories in the tightly compressed first days of a new season of work. \u00a0 And lots of stories, too, filled with the beauty and daring of our work lives.<\/p>\n
C David Campbell, Executive Director of The McGregor Fund, died early this July; a much loved man, himself in love with his family and his city. \u00a0 The program for his funeral led me back to the poet Mary Oliver\u2019s \u201cWhen Death Comes.\u201d \u00a0As Oliver does, the poem opens a door into the ordinary that invites the reader to expect depths of grief and wonder.<\/p>\n
This poem is meant for all the readers of this list, but especially for those of us who have tasted death at close range this summer and carry fresh grief now.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
john sj<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Post<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Death Comes”<\/b><\/p>\n
When death comes<\/p>\n
like the hungry bear in autumn;<\/p>\n
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;<\/p>\n
when death comes<\/p>\n
like the measle-pox<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
when death comes<\/p>\n
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:<\/p>\n
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And therefore I look upon everything<\/p>\n
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,<\/p>\n
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,<\/p>\n
and I consider eternity as another possibility,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
and I think of each life as a flower, as common<\/p>\n
as a field daisy, and as singular,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,<\/p>\n
tending,\u00a0as all music does, toward silence,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
and each body a lion of courage, and something<\/p>\n
precious to the earth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When it\u2019s over, I want to say:\u00a0 all my life<\/p>\n
I was a bride married to amazement.<\/p>\n
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When it\u2019s over, I don\u2019t want to wonder<\/p>\n
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want to find myself sighing and frightened,<\/p>\n
or full of argument.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want to end up simply having visited this world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mary Oliver \u00a0\u00a0New and Selected Poems, Vol.1<\/span><\/p>\n Tuesday, August 19,\u00a0Day after University Convocation “Convocation,” a calling together of women and men who work at the university. \u00a0 A rich variety of people from around the state, around the country, and around the wide world. \u00a0This is a … Continue reading ![\"Mary-Oliver\"](\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2014\/04\/Mary-Oliver1.jpg\")
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