Excerpt From What Is It Quotes

“The salamanders,
like tiny birds, locked into formation,
fly down into the endless mysteries

of the transforming water,
and how could anyone believe
that anything in this world
is only what it appears to be—

that anything is ever final—
that anything, in spite of its absence,
ever dies
a perfect death?

(from the poem 'What Is It?')”
― Mary Oliver, House of Light