“If you notice anything, it leads you to notice more and more” is a touchstone line for us from the poem “The Moths” by American poet Mary Oliver. Stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary walks in the wild, Mary Oliver’s work is inspired by nature, rather than the human world. As we take time to consider the land from a different point of view, one of reciprocity rather than domination, her words remind us to slow down, to notice the small things - that blade of grass, the song of a little bird, the pretty yellow flower lifting her head to the sun, perhaps saying “chin up folks.” In our hurried busy lives, noticing these small things can be a start to something important - noticing and appreciating more.
So grab your hot drink, gather around our kitchen table and take a moment to read these beautiful lines. We invite you to become part of our conversation by leaving a comment…whatever you feel like leaving - thoughts, feelings, inspiration, stories of a walk in nature, the small thing you noticed today - the sky is the limit. Have fun with it.
Have a fantastic week!
Sue and Vera
The Moths by Mary Oliver
There’s a kind of white moth, I don’t know
what kind, that glimmers
by mid-May
in the forest, just
as the pink moccasin flowers
are rising.
If you notice anything,
it leads you to notice
more
and more.
And anyway
I was so full of energy.
I was always running around, looking
at this and that.
If I stopped
the pain
was unbearable.
If I stopped and thought, maybe
the world
can’t be saved,
the pain
was unbearable.
Finally, I noticed enough.
All around me in the forest
the white moths floated.
How long do they live, fluttering
in and out of the shadows?You aren’t much, I said
one day to my reflection
in a green pond,
and grinned.
The wings of the moths catch the sunlight
and burn
so brightly.
At night, sometimes,
they slip between the pink lobes
of the moccasin flowers and lie there until dawn,
motionless
in those dark halls of honey.
This speaks to me so much! With a practice of macro photography I have found myself drawn to the simplest things yet finding more profound truths. I just discovered your blog but I look forward to reading and observing more.
Thanks for this poem...Mary Oliver's poetry touches a deep place within me. This poem ignited some memories for me. All summer and fall the crows seemed to be accompanying me through life. When I heard the words "Look up towards the sky" while engaging in a forest therapy guided meditation, 2 crows flew towards me a perched on a tree limb directly above me, shoulder length apart. They sat there in silence for the 15 minute duration of the meditation before flying away! On other occasions, while I was out for walks, crows would come and perch on tree limbs above me and chatter in very soft vocalizations ...very different from the loud cawing sounds I had been familiar with. I have a bowl of stones beside my studio door and many mornings I would find a stone or two moved from the bowl and placed on the step in front of the door and sometimes other random objects. It remains a mystery but I wonder if the crows were playing? Today, what I notice is an unusual silence outside...there is no sound of geese or crows or wind...only the sound of the snow crunching beneath my feet!