The Summer Day

I want to know what the future holds— not in years but in grains of the earth, in what will last in the end, what will endure, what will survive, what will fill the void of being. And I want to understand the land. Hunger stirs inside as I walk, the sun warming my back. I want to trace the roots, walk the long paths, follow the patterns of those who went before me, who have turned this land into memories, who have breathed this air into history. Let me drink to the beauty of this place, of everything that has thrived in the bright era and endured in the shadows. The clouds will speak to one another, stones of flint will resonate in the depths and the wind will whisper secrets of places far away. All in the marrow of the land’s bones.

I want to know what the land knows, tangible with every toe that touches the soil, every shadow cast from the sun. I want to bring life to what has become flat and dormant. I want the wisdom of the earth. I want every creature, every tree every drop of rain that has ever fallen to teach me something new of love and life.

I want the world in my bones. And to be still, and open, and alive, and to let this place fashion my heart, so I might feel all that has ever existed, in this moment of now. Let the earth know, let the land speak, let the seasons unfold. Let the world in, let it last forever in my spirit.

• Mary Oliver