Mary Oliver

 

Last Tuesday, we watched “Mary Oliver: Saved By the Beauty of the World,” an American Masters program on PBS. For the first time ever, I watched TV with my notebook open in front of me, taking notes. It was touching to see so many pictures of her young, wide open face. And the lineup of celebrities who helped pay tribute! Stephen Colbert, Ada Limón, Oprah, Jason Reynolds…wow.

Looking back on my notes, I realized that the were enough turns (or segments) in Mary Oliver’s life for a haiku sonnet: four 5-7-5 haiku ending with one 5 or 7 syllable couplet. And so a new form is born: the biographical haiku sonnet! My poem goes from childhood, to teen years, to adulthood. Next comes the death of her beloved, Molly Malone Cook, and Mary Oliver gets the last word with a line from her poem, “Wild Geese.” 

Goodbye Iris

 

 

Goodbye Iris

Mom’s iris thrived
in the dry
Eastern Colorado climate.
Here,
I fear,
they won’t survive.

This low spot
is the plot
with sun
but it floods.
Their feet stay wet
and rot.

Nothing
and no one
lasts forever.
We must adapt
when it no longer works
to persevere.

I hope she would understand –
I tried.
And though not with iris
there are a thousand 
other ways
I keep her memory alive.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2026 draft

 

 

Here For the Journey

 

 

This poem is a 7-7-7-7 poem: 7th book on my shelf (Amanda Gorman's CALL US WHAT WE CARRY), turned to the 7th page, using the 7th line to begin a 7-line poem.