March 29, 2024

Mary Oliver, Why I Wake Early back

Mindful Every day

I see or I hear something

that more or less

kills me

with delight,

that leaves me like a needle

in the haystack

of light.

It is what I was born for—

to look, to listen,

to lose myself

inside this soft world—

to instruct myself

over and over in joy,

and acclamation.

Nor am I talking about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,

the very extravagant— but of the ordinary,

the common,the very drab,

the daily presentations,

Oh, good scholar, I say to myself,

how can you help

but grow wise

with such teachings

as these—

the untrimmable light

of the world,

the ocean’s shine,

the prayers that are made

out of grass?

 

Mary Oliver Source: Why I Wake Early