Friday, May 1, 2015

Morning poem



         Life continues to intervene in very unexpected ways.  That has continued to be the case for my family the last several weeks.  And, so, again, instead of my usual Friday meditation, I offer a poem from  Mary Oliver as a spur for meditation:
Morning Poem


Every morning
the world
is created. 
Under the orange 

sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again 

and fasten themselves to the high branches ---
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands 

of summer lilies. 
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails 

for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere. 
And if your spirit
carries within it 

the thorn
that is heavier than lead ---
if it's all you can do
to keep on trudging --- 

there is still
somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted --- 

each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly, 
every morning, 

whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy, 
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray. 


from Dream Work (1986) by Mary Oliver

Blessings,

Gary

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