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PROTECT YOUR DNA WITH QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY
Orgo-Life the new way to the future Advertising by AdpathwayMary Oliver went Swimming, One Day in August, to deepen and quiet her spirit, then wrote about it. The poem was published in RED BIRD (2008) and posted @maryoliverofficial Instagram with other wonderful poems. It is a perfect metaphor for transcendence and renewal. We may not be able to swim in the sea, but we can dive daily into our own consciousness with our TM practice to experience “the deepening and quieting of the spirit,” then come out refreshed to take on the day.
Swimming, One Day in AugustIt is time now, I said,
for the deepening and quieting of the spirit
among the flux of happenings.
Something had pestered me so much
I thought my heart would break.
I mean, the mechanical part.
I went down in the afternoon
to the sea
which held me, until I grew easy.
About tomorrow, who knows anything.
Except that it will be time, again,
for the deepening and quieting of the spirit.
Publisher Beacon Press on Red Bird
“Red bird came all winter / firing up the landscape / as nothing else could.” So begins Mary Oliver’s twelfth book of poetry, and the image of that fiery bird stays with the reader, appearing in unexpected forms and guises until, in a postscript, he explains himself: “For truly the body needs / a song, a spirit, a soul. And no less, to make this work, / the soul has need of a body, / and I am both of the earth and I am of the inexplicable / beauty of heaven / where I fly so easily, so welcome, yes, / and this is why I have been sent, to teach this to your heart.” — Taken from Mary Oliver’s publisher Beacon Press on Red Bird.
You can read the full poem, Red Bird Explains Himself by Mary Oliver, and hear it recited by poet and close friend Lisa Starr at The 92nd Street Y New York towards the latter part (46:00) of A Tribute to Mary Oliver.
See this remembrance of Mary Oliver (1935-2019) and her astonishing poetry, with links to articles, interviews, and readings, as well as more of her favorite poems I’ve loved and posted over the years.
— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.
Tags: Mary Oliver, swimming in the sea in summer, TM, to deepen and quiet the spirit
This entry was posted on August 18, 2025 at 11:32 pm and is filed under Mary Oliver, Poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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