玛丽·奥利佛一直渴望变成自然中的另外一种生命，变成一只狐狸或者猫头鹰，变成一棵玉米或者小麦，突破人类与自然之间的障碍，消融于自然的完整之中，她的这一独特视角在她的诗里会不断地出现，我会一一展示。
生命的故事
当我住在黑橡树下，
觉得自己就是树叶；
当我住在小姐妹池塘边，
就梦想自己
是留在岸边的苍鹭羽毛。
我曾是水中睡莲，
根系如同精致的动脉；
我的面庞如同星辰，
我的快乐洋溢。
后来我是追逐大海的脚步，
我了解潮汐，明晰海藻的成分。
我认识绒鸭，认识长着红脖子的潜鸟
和它那扬起的喙和漂亮的眼睛。
我觉得我是大海波涛的浪尖，
是绒鸭光滑背上的水珍珠。
不，没有什么可以逃避的，
我也不曾想逃避这个结果。
放开双脚，就是解决重力
和形状单一的办法。
此时我在这儿，
彼时我会在那儿，
我会是那片小小的白云
俯视着水面，
一动不动，还翘着两条白腿
就像一只小白羊。
Life Story by Mary Oliver
When I lived under the black oaks
I felt I was made of leaves.
When I lived by Little Sister Pond,
I dreamed I was the feather of the blue heron
left on the shore.
I was the pond lily, my root delicate as an artery,
my face like a star,
my happiness brimming.
Later I was the footsteps that follow the sea.
I knew the tides, I knew the ingredients of the wrack.
I knew the eider, the red-throated loon
with his uplifted beak and his smart eye.
I felt I was the tip of the wave,
the pearl of water on the eider's glossy back.
No, there's no escaping, nor would I want to escape
this outgo, this foot-loosening, this solution
to gravity and a single shape.
Now I am here, later I will be there.
I will be that small cloud, staring down at the water,
the one that stalls, that lifts its white legs, that
looks like a lamb.
