I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.
Meaning
From a poem about meeting death with curiosity rather than fear. Oliver wants to have engaged with the world, not merely passed through it. A practical step: say yes to one invitation or small adventure you would normally decline this month.
Source: New and Selected Poems, Volume 2 (2005), "When Death Comes"
About the author
Mary Oliver (1935–2019) was an American poet who won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. She is known for plainspoken nature poems that celebrate attention and wonder.
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