I could not let April glide past me without acknowledging National Poetry Month and the poet that changed my life.

I discovered Mary Oliver in the collegiate haze of words every English Lit major must wade through in order to find their own truth. I appreciated Keats, Yates, Donne, and their canonic cadre. And when I settled into my seat in “Literature about Nature” I expected nothing.

Her name appeared on a black and white syllabus.

Her book appeared on the bookstore shelf next to Foucault.

But her words.

Her words appeared in my brain with a slow percolation. A wide-eyed realization that something I had not planned to love, was inching its way into my soul.

Mary Oliver’s poetry, to my 20-year-old brain, was full of wonder of the natural world, and the physical and metaphysical things we carry. Her poems were punctuated with words like “Listen!” and “Look!” She begged us to see what was simple and not always pretty. She fought against the naming of things that merely wanted to “be”.

And this transcendent show and tell that she guided me through in each of her poems taught a young student that I had a place in this world. And that this world had a place inside me.

I recently purchased two CD’s of Mary reading her own work and found myself tearing at the sound of her voice; This teacher, this mother, this author of my growing up and growing into the world she taught me to see. “At Blackwater Woods” still stuns me to silence and prayer and possibilities.

I only hope that everyone has had the experience I have had reading Mary Oliver. I hope that you have found someone, something, some music, some book, some play, some dance that has opened your eyes, heart, and mind to a path of possibilities. I hope you have found someone, something, who has taught you to see the world just as it is, and in turn helped you to see yourself, just as you are.

Mary Oliver sees me. And because of that, I see, I read, I believe, more clearly.

Gretchen is a book and poetry lover, English maven, and guest blogger for Bookmans. You can find her on Twitter @nyazgirl, or check out her great YouTube channel.