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Mikę Strzelecki submitted his favorite poem. As an avid "birder," Mary Oliver's desired end fits him perfectly.
Long Afternoon at the Edge of Sister Pond
As for life,
I’m humbled,
I’m without words
sufficient to say
how it has been hard as flint,
and soft as a spring pond,
both of these
and over and over,
and long pale afternoons besides,
and so many mysteries
beautiful as eggs in a nest,
still unhatched
though warm and watched over
by something I have never seen –
a tree angel, perhaps,
or a ghost of holiness.
Every day I walk out into the world
to be dazzled, then to be reflective.
It suffices, it is all comfort –
along with human love,
dog love, water love, little-serpent love,
sunburst love, or love for that smallest of birds
flying among the scarlet flowers.
There is hardly time to think about
stopping, and lying down at last
to the long afterlife, to the tenderness
yet to come, when
time will brim over the singular pond, and become forever,
and we will pretend to melt away into the leaves.
As for death, I can’t wait to be the hummingbird,
can you?
~ Mary Oliver
Sunny, with a high of 88 and low of 69 degrees. Sunny in the morning, patchy rain nearby in the afternoon and evening, clear overnight.
Very clever.
Lovely story. Thank you, Kathleen and editors for shaing it with us.