Saturday Morning. Why I Wake Early.

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?

—  Mary Oliver, from “Mindful” in Why I Wake Early.


Notes:

  • Photo: DK @ 6:03 a.m. this morning. Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT. 47F. More photos from this morning here.
  • Mary Oliver via Alive on All Channels

29 thoughts on “Saturday Morning. Why I Wake Early.”

  1. I don’t know how much wiser I/we are for your pics, poetry and posts… but I do know that it’s a daily dose of delightful dalliance with the divine through Davidic deliverances.

  2. …and because you can’t sleep…. But look what you do with that predicament! What a healthy and creative choice for finding sleep and peace to be elusive! Akin to Mary, you: “Everyday
    I see or hear something” with the coming light and generously share it with us!

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