The Invitation Poem (A Relationship Poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer)
Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s The Invitation poem is about relationships. The speaker describes what she’s seeking for and what she doesn’t care about in this essay.
The Invitation Poem
The author published a book based on the invitation poem, The Invitation (1999), by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, many years after the invitation poem was written and became renowned.
This poem invites each and every one of us to “show up” in the cosmos. She reminds us that being little does not serve the cosmos.
We instead serve the cosmos by making the most of our life. Read on to find out more about the invitation poem.
The Invitation
It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon…
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.
It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.
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Summary of The Invitation
The speaker opens the poem by making two declarations about what she does and does not want to know about a potential boyfriend.
The speaker continues, “I want my life and the life of my partner to be filled with the magnificent adventure of being alive.”
She goes on to develop another crucial part of the text, namely how the listener handles scrutiny, loss, and calamity.
Analysis of The Invitation
Stanza One
It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
(…)
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.
The speaker opens the opening stanza of the invitation poem, as she does nearly half of the stanzas, with the remark, “It doesn’t interest me.”
The opening stanza establishes that she is considerably more concerned with what this individual “ache[s] for” than with what their life is like right now.
She makes it obvious from the beginning that she is not seeking a simple relationship. She is looking for something more profound and long-lasting.
Stanza Two
It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
(…)
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
The second stanza consists of eight lines in which she throws off irrelevant information such as how old “you are.”
Age has no bearing on who or how she loves. Instead, one piece of information she would be interested in is a significant risk that this individual took.
Perhaps there was a time when they appeared like a fool for something they adored. Her ideal partner is obsessed with the grand “experience of being alive.”
Stanza Three
It doesnt interest me
what planets are
(…)
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
The speaker opens the third stanza with her final “It doesn’t interest me” comment for the time being. At this moment, she is attempting to obscure the subject.
She speaks of a moon representing her lover’s life, whether emotionally or physically, and the “planets” that “square” it. These are the persons, topics, or concerns that the listener is interested in.
Instead, she wants to know if this individual has acknowledged their own grief and the awful things that have happened to them.
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Stanza Four
I want to know
(…)
or fade it
or fix it.
The fourth stanza makes it plain how she wants her beloved to deal with life, particularly suffering.
She asks if the listener has the strength to “sit with pain” rather than move to “fade at” or “repair it.”
This might be her or their grief. It should not be anything that is crippling. Pain should be viewed as a source of strength rather than weakness.
Stanza Five
I want to know
if you can be with joy
(…)
to remember the limitations
of being human.
The fifth stanza of ‘The Invitation’, like the fourth, urges the listener to “sit” with emotion. They should be able to inhale “ecstasy” and allow it to fill them.
She wants a relationship that isn’t constrained by caution or continual reminders of reality. The speaker is looking for an escape from her mundane existence and someone to share it with.
The final two lines of the stanza are related to the final line of the second stanza. She’s searching her audience once more for something truly and unashamedly human.
Stanza Six
It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
(…)
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
The sixth stanza returns to the opening phrase, “It doesn’t interest me.” She emphasizes in this section that her lover’s tale does not have to be “real.”
This appears to contradict everything said previously until it is analyzed more thoroughly. She is unconcerned with the stories performed for the audience or the masks worn in public.
This is demonstrated by her doubts about the listener’s capacity to “be genuine to yourself.” They must also be able to “endure” betrayals without losing their soul.
Stanza Seven
I want to know if you can see Beauty
(…)
from its presence.
With only five lines, the seventh stanza of ‘The Invitation’ is the shortest of the twelve. In this segment, the speaker discusses beauty and asks if her audience sees it everywhere.
Even when it is not “beautiful / every day,” beauty should be evident. She doesn’t say what the ugly things are. This enables beauty to be applied to the broadest range of daily activities conceivable.
She ends the brief verse by expressing her want for her boyfriend to draw strength from the “presence” of beauty in the world.
Stanza Eight
I want to know
if you can live with failure
(…)
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
The speaker asks the listener once more if they can live with disappointment, loss, and failure.
This is not definitely theirs; it may also be hers. She wants a boyfriend who can take it all in stride and persevere in the face of failure.
They should be able to seize control of an uprising and “shout” that they have not given up. Their soul remains strong.
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Stanza Nine
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
(…)
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
The ninth verse appears to be needless in that it goes through more information unrelated to the speaker’s love. These include her lover’s children or the listener’s income.
These words were most likely inserted by Dreamer because they are two of the most typical reasons for beginning or leaving a relationship.
The speaker returns to “disappointment” and the resilience her partner must have in order to carry on with their lives.
Stanza Ten
It doesn’t interest me
who you know
(…)
with me
and not shrink back.
The eleventh stanza is likewise about bravery, but the speaker is more forthright this time. The fire represents the problems or barriers that the pair may face.
Her lover’s moral fortitude is far more significant to her than how they acquired it.
Stanza Eleven
It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
(…)
from the inside
when all else falls away.
Looking into the minds of the listeners once more, the speaker informs them that their education does not interest her. Neither do their cultural preferences.
What matters is “what sustains” them when all else fails. The speaker’s eagerness to delve further into her audience demonstrates that she doesn’t care if they share her passions, as long as they do.
Stanza Twelve
I want to know
if you can be alone
(…)
the company you keep
in the empty moments.
In the final six lines, she expresses her want to know if her beloved could live their lives alone, or if they could at least enjoy their own company.
“Empty moments,” as well as dismal, fearful, and degrading ones, are prevalent, and the speaker is interested in how the audience handles these times.
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