17 May, 2010

'Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?'

The sun

Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful

than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone—
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance—
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love—
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure

that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you

as you stand there,
empty-handed—
or have you too
turned from this world—

or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?

- Mary Oliver


p.s.: by the roadside, red poppies, known here as coquelicots, after the sound of a rooster's crowing, as it resembles a coxcomb, bobbing and swaying in the high grass.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful post and photo.
    By the way, regarding your question the seven-spice seasoning is really up to you every family makes their own; I buy it ready-made. Just pick the spices you like and throw them in, c'est tout!

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  2. Thanks tasteofbeirut! (The title of the post is an excerpt from another Mary Oliver poem.)

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  3. Over here I've got orange California poppies. I do like the red poppies more but the orange ones are the state flower.

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  4. Amazing! As I am watching the remnant of a beautiful sunset, I open the window, breathe deeply and go to your blog and read this lovely poem. I have to say that, to me, there is nothing like nature. I am grateful ever morning and night for the wonder it brings.

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  5. Hello WC,
    The orange ones are here, as well, but not nearly as prevalent. How bright they are!

    Hi Nadege,
    What perfect synchronicity!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting my blog and joining in the conversation!

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