The Summer Day
By Mary Oliver
"Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"
New and Selected Poems, 1992
Beacon Press, Boston, MA
Beacon Press, Boston, MA
Copyright 1992 by Mary Oliver
9 comments:
Beautiful, thank you so much for sharing!
Wow... I really like that one!
nice,,
The last lines are quite thought-provoking... I actually ask myself that question many times...why amI here in this world...????
This is great - thanks so much for posting it!
I really like that one!You have said it very well. Keep going.
This is a fascinating post.
good post, let us gives thanks to the Lord almighty for all the blessings we have =)
This is so nice... and particularly because its cold this morning.
thank you so much for sharing this post. I really like that one!Thank you for bringing such nice posts.
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