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