When Death Comes - by Shaun Usher - Letters of Note

A powerful letter of thanks to Mary Oliver

Although ultimately about hope, the following letter discusses suicide ideation. Proceed with caution. In 2015, then-16-year-old Aidan Kingwell was tasked by her English teacher to write to someone who had influenced her in some way1. The result was this letter, addressed to Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver, whose words—her poem When Death Comes, specifically—had helped Kingwell during a particularly dark time as a young teenager, and during moments of depression ever since. Frustratingly, despite my best efforts, I’m not allowed to reprint that poem here; however, I’m sure you can…

related reading

• Mary Oliver When Death COmesphys.unm.edu
• Who By Very Slow Decayslatestarcodex.com
• Mary Oliver's Poetry Captures Our Relationship With Technology - The Atlantictheatlantic.com
• Mary Oliver Quotes (Author of Devotions)goodreads.com
• Mary Oliver on the Measure of a Life Well Lived and How to Magnify Your Aliveness – The Marginalianthemarginalian.org
• Heavy by Mary Oliver • Read A Little Poetryreadalittlepoetry.com
• Men Who Kill Themselvesmetropolitanreview.org
• The Deaths—and Lives—of Two Sons | The New Yorkernewyorker.com
• A Protocol for Dying - Hintjens.comhintjens.com
• Embracing Eternity: Discovering Joy in Mortalityandreagibson.substack.com
• Mary Oliver — “I got saved by the beauty of the world.”onbeing.org
• In Blackwater woods by Mary J Oliver - Famous poems, famous poets. - All Poetryallpoetry.com