Things take the time they take. Don't worry

Things take the time they take. Don't worry

Mary Oliver, the beloved poet and Pulitzer Prize winner, often wrote about the beauty and wonder of the natural world. Her poems are filled with observations of the world around her, and she had a unique way of capturing the essence of life in her words. One of the recurring themes in her work is the idea that things take the time they take, and that we should not worry about rushing the process.

In her poem "In Blackwater Woods," Oliver writes:

"Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go."

This poem beautifully captures the idea that life is a journey, and that we must learn to accept the natural flow of things. Oliver reminds us that there is a time for everything, and that we must trust in the process of life unfolding as it should. She encourages us to embrace the beauty of the present moment, and to let go of our worries about the future.