“Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way” by Mary Oliver

If you're John Muir you want trees to

live among. If you're Emily, a garden

will do.

Try to find the right place for yourself.

If you can't find it, at least dream of it.

                                            •

When one is alone and lonely, the body

gladly lingers in the wind or the rain,

or splashes into the cold river, or

pushes through the ice-crusted snow.

Anything that touches.

                                            •

God, or the gods, are invisible, quite

understandable. But holiness is visible,

entirely.

                                            •

Some words will never leave God's mouth,

no matter how hard you listen.  

                                            •

In all the works of Beethoven, you will

not find a single lie.

                                            •

All important ideas must include the trees,

the mountains, and the rivers.

                                            •

To understand many things you must reach out

of your own condition.

                                            •

For how many years did I wander slowly

through the forest. What wonder and

glory I would have missed had I ever been

in a hurry!

                                            •

Beauty can both shout and whisper, and still

it explains nothing.

                                            •

The point is, you're you, and that's for keeps.