my backyard, early this morning
Why I Wake Early
~Mary Oliver~
Hello, sun in my face
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety-
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light-
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
Written neatly on a piece of pretty paper and folded gently in half just once, this poem has been tucked inside my wallet all week, serving as instruction, prayer, and benediction all in one. I know I've posted this poem before, but it's one that always comforts me and sends me onward into life with a renewed spirit.