The package was waiting on my desk, having travelled all the way from Germany, and looking quiet mysterious. I am not gentle when it comes to opening a parcel or package, so it was ripped open quickly. Inside was a wonderful book of poetry, Evidence, by Mary Oliver. Along with the book was a poem from the book that had been framed:
Halleluiah
Everyone should be born into this world happy
and loving everything.
But in truth it rarely works that way.
For myself, I have spent my life clamoring toward it.
Halleluiah, anyway, I'm not where I started!
And have you too been trudging like that, sometimes
almost forgetting how wonderous the world is and
how miraculously kind some people can be?
And have you too decided that probably nothing important
is ever easy?
Not, say, for the first sixty years.
Halleluiah, I'm sixty now, and even a little more,
and some days I feel I have wings.
Mary Oliver
This book, and this poem, meant so much to me. The book sits beside my desk and has become my 'when I need to ponder' book. She write evocatively with images that somehow bring me to a place where thinking is possible.
So it's my birthday.
I'm sixty.
And some days I feel I have wings.
Happy Birthday, dear sweet man!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Dave. And thank you for your blog. It's a gift I enjoy every day.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! Another who enjoys your writing daily although I rarely comment!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Dave! A brand-new decade before you - can't wait to read what it brings you!
ReplyDeletexo
Dear Dave,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad it safely arrived. It was introduced to my by Joshua Kadison who is a gentle soul too.
"My" poem is the HEART POEM...
Congratulations again to a man who sometimes has wings - and to his partner.
Happy Birthday again
Julia
Happy Birthday Dave. Thank you for sharing the Mary Oliver Poem. May you always find your wings
ReplyDeleteHappy Bithday Dave, from another December Baby!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Dave!! May you have a fantastic day and a wonderful year ahead!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Dave!
ReplyDeleteJulia, I can't tell you how often I've picked that book up ... I think of you every time I do. I wonder if we'll ever manage to meet?
ReplyDeleteHappiest of birthdays, Dave! Nobody could possibly deserve it more! :)
ReplyDeleteLove the poem, and love the phrase "Hallelujah anyway!" It's a very succinct expression of the outlook on life I TRY to hold onto. :)
Happy Birthday Dave. And Merry Christmas to you and Joe :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Dave!
ReplyDeleteHappy b day and what a great gift!!! You are indeed loved by so many. Wings!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Dave.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing yourself in this blog. You are much appreciated.
Sharon