Monday, May 7, 2018

101 Poems, Number 69


Favorite Poems Throughout My Life


69: “The Black Snake,” by Mary Oliver (1935–)

“When the black snake flashed … the morning road,
And the truck could not swerve”—that does not bode
Too well, not for the snake, at least,
Which has no chance. A truck! (A beast!)

And Oliver then meditates
On life and death—oh, no debates
About our common craving just to stay
Alivenot die, no not today!

But trucks are trucks. And we are frail.
We can’t withstand it. So we fail.
Along the road of life we lie—
Surprised to learn that we will die.


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