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Being Alive Is Spiritual
Art is spiritual, too.
“I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.”
— Mary Oliver — I Worried.
*
God
my daughter asked me
what I believe about God.
at this late point in my life,
after years of study
in the religions of man
and his creation
of gods and satan,
I told her I believe
in the evidence;
listening to water drops
off ice crystals
the smell of fresh moss
on the forest floor
the whine of the wind
among soft pines
the dulcet greens
of…
