April 22: "I'm Feeling Fabulous, Possibly Too Much So. But I Love It" by Mary Oliver

I'm Feeling Fabulous, Possibly Too Much So. But I Love It

by Mary Oliver from Blue Horses (Penguin Press, 2014) 

It's spring and Mockingbird is teaching himself

new ways to celebrate. 

If you can imagine that--that gusty talker.

And the sky is painting itself a brand-new

robust blue

plenty of which is spilling into the pond.

I don't weigh very much, but right now

I weigh nothing.

And my mind is, I guess you would say, compounded.

One voice is saying, Ah, it's Mockingbird.

Another voice is saying, The pond never looked

this blue before.

Another voice says, There couldn't ne a more

splendid world, and here I am

existing in it.

I think, just for the joy of it, I'll fly.

I believe I could.

And yet another voice says, Can we come down

from the clouds now?

And some other voice answers, Okay.

But only for a while. 

***

A note from me: I love this poem. I've had it earmarked to share since I decided to share poems this month. However, I'd been waiting for--hoping for-- a day I was actually feeling fabulous. Unfortunately, lately, I haven't had any of those days. The best I've managed is "okay," but definitely not "fabulous" in any degree.  

Now, though, it is Earth Day. And despite a strong breeze and cooler-than-preferable temperatures, it's gorgeous out. The sky is blue. The sun is shining. The flowering trees are blooming. The leaves are pushing out of their buds. The world looks alive and stunning and, dare I say, fabulous. 

So, rereading this poem, I feel like maybe--even if I can only manage it for a short while--I need to force myself to let these wonders of natures spread outward to make me feel fabulous.

For Earth Day, the poem had to be one by Mary Oliver, because no one is better than she is at noticing and capturing life itself in her poems.