Thursday, September 10, 2015

Praise


It is the nature of stone
to be satisfied.
It is the nature of water
to want to be somewhere else.

Everywhere we look:
the sweet guttural swill of the water
tumbling.
Everywhere we look:
the stone, basking in the sun,

or offering itself
to the golden lichen.

It is our nature not only to see
that the world is beautiful

but to stand in the dark, under the stars,
or at noon, in the rainfall of light,

frenzied,
wringing our hands,

half-mad, saying over and over:

what does it mean, that the the world is beautiful - 
what does it mean?


   -Mary Oliver
    The Leaf and the Cloud


Monday, September 7, 2015

Six Poppies

Prickly Poppy (wildflower)

White Linen Poppy

Wind Poppy

Mission Bells Poppy

Orange Poppy

American Legion Poppy