07/27/2025
The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver (1935-2019)
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean -
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down -
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
About the Author:
Mary Jane Oliver was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is inspired by nature, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary walks in the wild.
🍃🌺🍃
Dear Friends -
I hope you’ll give some thought to Mary Oliver’s provocative question: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” What will you do with today? This one perfect and precious day?
Love
Elizabeth
[Image: Ecstasy (1929) oil painting on canvas by Golden Age artist and illustrator Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966).]
The Smart Witch by Elizabeth
Classic The Smart Witch
Post from 26 July 2021 & 26 July 2023
Updated 26 July 2025
