Dana Butler
Mindful
--Mary Oliver
From January 26, 2021

Every day I see or I hear
something that more or less
kills me with delight,
that leaves me like a needle
in the haystack of light.
It is what I was born for--
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world--
to instruct myself over and over
in joy, and acclamation.
Nor am I talking about
the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant--
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar, I say to myself
how can you help
but grow wise with such teachings
as these--the untrimmable light
of the world, the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?
(Oh my gosssshhhh I SO love this Mary Oliver gem. And this little abandoned farm down the road from my house. The farmhouse is falling in on itself but I desperately hope they don’t tear it down anytime soon. I want to shoot it with a real camera 📸 one o’ these days.)