Mindful

Mindful, by Mary Oliver

Every day
     I see or hear
          something
               that more or less

kills me
     with delight,
          that leaves me
               like a needle

in the haystack
     of light.
          It was what I was born for --
               to look, to listen,

to lose myself
     inside this soft world --
          to instruct myself
               over and over

in joy,
     and acclamation.
          Nor am I talking
               about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,
     the very extravagant --
          but of the ordinary,
               the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.
     Oh, good scholar,
          I say to myself,
               how can you help

but grow wise
     with such teachings
          as these --
               the untrimmable light

of the world,
     the ocean's shine,
          the prayers that are made
               out of grass?

“Mindful” by Mary Oliver from Why I Wake Early. © Beacon Press, 2005.

This poem was shared with me this week and resonates so deeply with my experience of the world. I started this morning at the church weeding the front garden. While pulling some oxalis I noticed this strange fungus and captured these photos. It was like looking into a coral reef and it fascinates me how similar the structures of coral and fungus are. You can click these to see them larger. 

 

Its funny because a parishioner shared a photo with me just this past Sunday of a different fungus that she discovered in her front garden. It just looked like a yellow blob until you zoom in. Upon zooming in you discover the most intricate matrix of webbing and interconnected structure. These photos of the blob come from Linda Nunes and are shared with her permission:

"Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight..." :-)