Mary Oliver: Song of the Builders

Song of the Builders

On a summer morning

I sat down

on a hillside

to think about God –

a worthy pastime.

Near me, I saw

a single cricket;

it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.

How great was its energy,

how humble its effort.

Let us hope

it will always be like this,

each of us going on

in our inexplicable ways

building the universe.

Mary Oliver, from Why I Wake Early (2004)

How easy it is to forget that we are universe builders–each one of us. Humbling indeed is its importance.

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