In Blackwater Woods

Have you ever loved someone or something? In Mary Oliver’s poem, â€Å"In Blackwater Woods,† she writes about love. â€Å"In Blackwater Woods,† brought back a childhood memory that I had forgotten about. It was when I was eight years old and I caught these two little lizards. I had put them in a jar with sticks, leaves, and I even poked little holes in the lid so they could breathe. I loved both of them so much, that, I even gave each lizard a name. The lizards were not happy in the jar.I couldn’t get them to eat or even move. My mom came and said to me, â€Å"Isaac, if you really love those lizards you will let them go. † And I was angry with her for telling me that, I couldn’t just let them free. I knew that they weren’t happy, and I couldn’t bear to watch them suffer anymore. So, I released them in the forest and they ran off happily up a tree. It felt good seeing them happy, and I learned something that day. The lesson I lea rned is in Mary Oliver’s poem, â€Å"In Blackwater Woods. She writes about this beautiful forest of trees that smell of cinnamon, and beautiful ponds. This forest symbolizes happiness. Mary Oliver also writes about a black river with fire. This symbolizes loss, and sadness. She also writes something important, â€Å"To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go. This is the lesson I learned that day I let my lizards free. If you really love something or someone and the time comes to let it go, you will let it go, or you will live in the â€Å"black river†, and never cross it to reach the â€Å"beautiful forest. † The moral of the poem, â€Å"In Blackwater Woods,† is a universal one, it’s also one of the easiest to understand. Ironically, it’s one of the most difficult to do. Letting som ething you love go is a challenge, but in the end you will most surely reach the â€Å"beautiful forest. †