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"Mindful", by Mary Oliver

Thanks again Mary Oliver!


Mindful

Mary Oliver



Everyday

I see or hear

something

that more or less


kills me

with delight,

that leaves me

like a needle


in the haystack

of light.

It was 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?


from Why I Wake Early, Beacon Press, 2005.

maryoliver.com