With the speed of hummingbird wings, the days are flying by, and it’s once again a Poetry Monday. Summer has not yet officially arrived, but with our temperatures today expected to be 92…
The Summer Day
(with gratitude to Holy)
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver
Medico Musings 
I have copied this down to print out.
In 12 Grade, my English Literature teacher, Mr. Daukus, gave us 1 minute at the start of class to memorize a poem. At the end of class he asked who could recite it. I was able to in part because it captured how I viewed the natural world around me.
MY HEART LEAPS UP
=======
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
– William Wordsworth
When I coached soccer in Arizona, we would be practicing and I would notice the sunset across the Sonoran Desert. I would shout for everyone to stop and I would point them at the sunset and say:
“Practice is great and preparing for our game is awesome! But, in the final analysis, noticing and enjoying this sunset was the most important thing we could do today. Try to notice something amazing in the world around you every day.”
In the years since, I’ve had more parents, and now, players who are now adults, thank me for those moments more than the coaching.
In any case, thanks for posting.
Glad the poem resonated with you. I also enjoyed your Wordsworth verse. Hope all remains well with you and yours. Hope we can touch base in person soon.
Jorge, I love the attention to the smallest of details you mentioned that’s so easily missed when you aren’t pausing to soak in nature’s little jewels.
Thank you!
Greetings from the beautiful Rhine-Highlands / Germany…
Rosie
Rosie, thanks for your kind words. It’s always lovely to hear from a person of your fine sensibilities 🙂 Be well!