Places

             THE PLACE I WANT TO GET BACK TO

 

is where

in the pinewoods

in the moments between

the darkness

 

and first light

two deer

came walking down the hill

and when they saw me

 

they said to each other, okay,

this one is okay.

let's see who she is

and why she is sitting

 

on the ground like that,

so quiet, as if

asleep, or in a dream,

but, anyway, harmless;

 

and so they came

on their slender legs

and gazed upon me

not unlike the way

 

I go out to the dunes and look

and look and look

into the faces of the flowers;

and then one of them leaned forward

 

and nuzzled my hand and what can my life

bring to me that could exceed

that brief moment?

For twenty years

 

I have gone every day to the same woods,

not waiting, exactly, just lingering.

Such gifts, bestowed

can't be repeated.

 

If you want to talk about this

come to visit. I live in the house

near the corner, which I have named

Gratitude.

 

~Mary Oliver

 

xo