Wednesday, October 24

Sleeping in the Forest

I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds.
I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
among the branches of the perfect trees.
All night I heard the small kingdoms
breathing around me, the insects,
and the birds who do their work in the darkness.
All night I rose and fell, as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.

by Mary Oliver


all images © Manuela Thames 2012



5 comments:

Julia said...

So much could be said about these images. I love the self-portraits juxtaposed with the trees, all wrapped up in that amazing poem. How did you put this together today?

Manuela said...

Well, after we talked I sat down on the couch starring out the window and giving up on the day. And then, I am not sure what happened... I got up and took another look at all the pictures that I took today, and it suddenly came to me.

Dóri said...

love all of them *-*

karine leger said...

beautiful série

Evelina said...

It's difficult to tell if the pictures fit perfectly to the poem or if the poem fits perfectly to the pictures. Very fortunate idea in any case.