Yesterday was an ordinary day of Miracles and Wonders–let’s call it March 22, 2017, very much still at the equinoctial moment. These early Spring days make me hum Vivaldi in my head and recite Mary Oliver poems to myself.
takes her in.”
Heron Rises From The Dark, Summer Pond
by Mary Oliver
So heavy
is the long-necked, long-bodied heron,
always it is a surprise
when her smoke-colored wings
open
and she turns
from the thick water,
from the black sticks
of the summer pond,
and slowly
rises into the air
and is gone.
Then, not for the first or the last time,
I take the deep breath
of happiness, and I think
how unlikely it is
that death is a hole in the ground,
how improbable
that ascension is not possible,
though everything seems so inert, so nailed
back into itself–
the muskrat and his lumpy lodge,
the turtle,
the fallen gate.
And especially it is wonderful
that the summers are long
and the ponds so dark and so many,
and therefore it isn’t a miracle
but the common thing,
this decision,
this trailing of the long legs in the water,
this opening up of the heavy body
into a new life: see how the sudden
gray-blue sheets of her wings
strive toward the wind; see how the clasp of nothing
takes her in.
Hi! I absolutely loved the content of this – it is a miracle indeed that you saw so many of our winged wonders, so intensely elegant. I smiled through almost the whole video, and agree with the squirrel!
I did find the elaborate tech of how the slides came a bit distracting, and would have preferred a more ‘boring’ delivery.
Wonderful to hear the Vivaldi at this moment!
Thank you!
You captured the moment in all its sublime early spring majesty. I can just smell the fragrant fresh spring air and hear the flutter of many wings…even without the warmth and sparkle of the sun (we’ve barely seen the sun in the four weeks we’ve been home in Victoria), spring is springing, green is greening, and life is unfolding inexorably like your pics moving from screen to screen…magic, indeed!