Steve Buscemi reads Mary Oliver's poem, "The Fish"
Clip: 8/25/2026 | 1m 19sVideo has Closed Captions
Listen to Steve Buscemi read Mary Oliver's poem "The Fish" in this excerpt from the film.
Listen to Steve Buscemi read Mary Oliver's poem "The Fish" in this excerpt from the film. "She's going to the deepest, most contradictory places where life and death usher from the same source."
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Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Support for American Masters is provided by AARP, The Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, Burton P. and Judith B. Resnick Foundation, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation,...
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Steve Buscemi reads Mary Oliver's poem, "The Fish"
Clip: 8/25/2026 | 1m 19sVideo has Closed Captions
Listen to Steve Buscemi read Mary Oliver's poem "The Fish" in this excerpt from the film. "She's going to the deepest, most contradictory places where life and death usher from the same source."
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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How do today’s masters create their art? Each episode an artist reveals how they brought their creative work to life. Hear from artists across disciplines, like actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, singer-songwriter Jewel, author Min Jin Lee, and more on our podcast "American Masters: Creative Spark."Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] She's going to the deepest, most contradictory places where life and death usher from the same source, and then she's speaking with clear language about that mystery.
(soft music) - The first fish I ever caught would not lie down quiet in the pail, but flailed and sucked at the burning amazement of the air, and died in the slow pouring off of rainbows.
Later, I opened his body and separated the flesh from the bones and ate him.
Now the sea is in me.
I am the fish.
The fish glitters in me.
We are risen, tangled together, certain to fall back to the sea.
Out of pain and pain and more pain, we feed this feverish plot.
We are nourished by the mystery.
(soft music) - [Narrator 2] People think of her walking the beaches of Provincetown without troubling anyone or having troubles herself and that certainly wasn't the life that she led.
NewHow Mary Oliver met her life partner, Molly Malone Cook
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Mary Oliver met her life partner, photographer Molly Malone Cook, at Steepletop. (1m 27s)
NewMary Oliver had a troubled childhood
Video has Closed Captions
Mary Oliver often hinted at the turmoil within her family, but sought to move past it. (2m 33s)
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
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Celebrate the life and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver. (2m 37s)
NewThe political nature of Mary Oliver's poems
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Mary Oliver sought to call attention to the destruction of the earth in her work. (2m 1s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Support for PBS provided by:
Support for American Masters is provided by AARP, The Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, Burton P. and Judith B. Resnick Foundation, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation,...