玛丽的诗：当死亡来的时候
“当尘埃落定，我想说，我就是那个把一生嫁给了惊奇的新娘……”，这是玛丽·奥利佛给自己做的最好的总结。带着一颗永远地好奇心，去不断地探索，不断地发现大自然的每一物种的美好和活着的规律。不是科学研究，而是哲学思索。
死神来的时候
死神来的时候
像秋天里一只饥饿的熊；
死神来的时候
拿出他的钱包，
掏出所有亮晃晃的金币，
要买我，
然后啪的一声关上了钱夹。
当死神像麻疹一样来临，
当死神像冰山一样
在肩胛骨间出现。
带着满心的好奇，
我想走进这扇门，
想知道那黑暗的小屋里
到底什么样？
由此，我把所有人
视之为手足情谊，
认为时间不过是一个概念，
而永恒只是另一种可能；
我把每一个生命
都想成是一朵花，
一朵普通的雏菊，
都是这世界的唯一，
每一个名字
念出来都是令人舒畅的音符，
像所有的音乐一样趋向寂静，
每个人都有雄狮般的勇气，
都是大地的珍宝。
当尘埃落定，
我想说，我就是那个
把这一生嫁给了惊奇的新娘；
也是把世界拥进怀里的新郎。
当尘埃落定，
我不想知道
我的生命是不是特别，
是不是真实。
我也不想去找
自己的那些叹息，
恐惧，或是纠结。
我不想，到死的时候，
仅仅做了这世界的访客。
When Death Comes
When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and
takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measles-pox;
when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door
full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like,
that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower,
as common as a field daisy,
and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage,
and something precious to the earth.
When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom,
taking the world into my arms.
When it is over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
