“Against our lives, the stunning beauty of the world.”
~ Betty Adcock, American poet
More and more, I find this pithy statement by Betty Adcock to be so true. The world of humans at this point in our history is not beautiful. Far from it. But I wake up each day thankful that there is another world within this one we call Earth or Nature. And Earth is beyond exquisite, so finely tuned for life that you would think it is balanced on a pinhead, so extravagantly beautiful you can’t help but believe that nature is sentient, that it feels and knows. The question is, do we return the favor, by giving our attention and devotion to her bountiful gifts or do we view her as a side show, with eyes of indifference and hearts of stone?
How can we do better? I think poetry can help; the distilled lyrical power of words can move us and draw us back to what matters. “Attention is the beginning of devotion,” said Mary Oliver whose own poems epitomize a deep love for nature. Thankfully, she is not alone. Below are other poets who write with same voice.
Wake up! Wake up!
Sparrows are dancing
butterflies frolicking
Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827)
FUGITIVE
Sunlight,
Three marigolds,
And a dusky purple poppy-pod –
Out of these I made a beautiful world,
Will you have them –
Brightness,
Gold,
And a sleep with dreams?
They are brittle pleasures certainly,
But where can you find better?
Roses are not noted for their endurance
And only thirty days are June.
~ Amy Lowell (1874-1925)
WITNESS
Sometimes the mountain
is hidden from me in veils
of cloud, sometimes
I am hidden from the mountain
in veils of inattention, apathy, fatigue
when I forget or refuse to go
down to the shore or a few yards
up the road, on a clear day
to reconfirm
that witnessing presence.
~ Denise Levertov (1923-1997)
IMAGINE
What if you could paint
a tree and its leaves
start to rustle, and
little yellow birds
gather in twos
to sing on its bough?
What if you could paint
the sun, and it waves
its gold at you in
shimmering sheaves
of summer light?
Would this be worth
more than gold?
What if you could build
a trellis in your front yard
and watch honeysuckles
twine, filling the air with
their intoxicating scent?
What if turn your back yard
into an Eden for bees, and
birds that have no names
begin to sing their hearts out?
Would that not make you
want to open your heart
as well and make each day
a bough on a tree, leaning
closer to eternity?
~ Wallace Fong