The Uncarved Blog

This simple yet profound little poem seems to indicate that Mary Oliver was in a very good place when she wrote and published it later in life. 

Everything That Was Broken
by Mary Oliver 

Everything that was broken has
forgotten its brokenness. I live
now in a sky-house, through every
window the sun. Also your presence.
Our touching, our stories. Earthly
and holy both. How can this be, but
it is. Every day has something in
it whose name is forever.

Felicity: Poems (Penguin Books, 2015, 2017)

Mary Oliver eventually overcame her damaged psyche. She found love, creatively expressed her deep appreciation of nature, and manifested her destiny as a great, beloved poet. Her poetry inspired, instructed. Brokenness transformed into wholeness. She lived a fulfilled life. 

Devoted fans forget their brokenness when they read Mary Oliver’s transformational poetry. It heals. See a related love poem, Coming Home.

Discover more about America’s best-selling poet in this memorial post: RIP: Mary Oliver. Thank you for sharing your poetic gifts with us. They are a national treasure!

Another favorite poet wrote daily to repair his life: William Stafford’s poetry lightened his life having woven a parachute out of everything broken.

^{— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.}

Tags: forgetting brokeness, reading transformational poetry, remembering wholeness, writing to heal

This entry was posted on February 11, 2025 at 12:18 pm and is filed under Literature, Mary Oliver, Poetry, William Stafford, Writing. 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.