16 January 2007

sunrise














You can

die for it --
an idea,
or the world. People


have done so,
brilliantly,

letting
their small bodies be bound


to the stake,

creating

an unforgettable

fury of light. But


this morning,

climbing the familiar hills

in the familiar
fabric of dawn, I thought


of China,

and India

and Europe, and I thought

how the sun

blazes

for everyone just
so joyfully

as it rises


under the lashes

of my own eyes, and I thought

I am so many!
What is my name?


What is the name

of the deep breath I would take
over and over
for all of us? Call it


whatever you want, it is

happiness, it is another one
of the ways to enter
fire.


Mary Oliver

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This one's too deep for me....

Mom