A Mary Oliver poem and my thoughts.

 

INVITATION by Mary Oliver

Oh do you have time

to linger

for just a little while

out of your busy

and very important day

for the goldfinches

that have gathered

in a field of thistles

for a musical battle,

to see who can sing

the highest note,

or the lowest,

or the most expressive of mirth,

or the most tender?

Their strong, blunt beaks

drink the air

as they strive

melodiously

not for your sake

and not for mine

and not for the sake of winning

but for sheer delight and gratitude –

believe us, they say,

it is a serious thing

just to be alive

on this fresh morning

in the broken world.

I beg of you,

do not walk by

without pausing

to attend to this

rather ridiculous performance.

It could mean something.

It could mean everything.

It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:

You must change your life.

Mary Oliver

The words in this poem are almost my exact thoughts when I'm lying in my bed between sleep and waking listening to the birds singing out my window.  Some mornings there isn't a peep from a bird but on those glorious mornings when the birds wake me with their chorus of calls and songs of joy.  I will listen for the different tunes my own heart filling with joy.

Early this month we had rain for the first two weeks with some heavy downpours, the birds would gather at one of the feeders under the covered porch several perching on the windchimes and the table waiting to take their turn at the feeder or perhaps just being social while getting out of the rain.  They sing while they wait out the rain.  I often wonder are they calling other birds to let them know it's dry spot out of the rain with plenty to eat.  

I am fortunate to have this almost daily gift of birdsong and happy to say it's not only in the early morning that the birds come and sing.  For the past few weeks they have been coming in the late afternoon and early evening after the sun goes down filling the air with song.