<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">Gratitude</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33); min-height: 22px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">What did you notice?</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">The dew snail;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the low-flying sparrow;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the bat, on the wind, in the dark;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">big-chested geese, in the V of sleekest performance;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the soft toad, patient in the hot sand;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the sweet-hungry ants;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the uproar of mice in the empty house;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the tin music of the cricket’s body;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the blouse of the goldenrod.</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">What did you hear?</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">The thrush greeting the morning;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the little bluebirds in their hot box;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the salty talk of the wren,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">then the deep cup of the hour of silence.</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">What did you admire?</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">The oaks, letting down their dark and hairy fruit;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the carrot, rising in its elongated waist;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the onion, sheet after sheet, curved inward to the</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> pale green wand;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">at the end of summer the brassy dust, the almost liquid</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> beauty of the flowers;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">then the ferns, scrawned black by the frost.</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">What astonished you?</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">The swallows making their dip and turn over the water.</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">What would you like to see again?</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">My dog: her energy and exuberance, her willingness,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> her language beyond all nimbleness of tongue, her</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> recklessness, her loyalty, her sweetness, her</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> sturdy legs, her curled black lip, her snap.</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">What was most tender?</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">Queen Anne’s lace, with its parsnip root;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the everlasting in its bonnets of wool;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the kinks and turns of the tupelo’s body;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the tall, blank banks of sand;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the clam, clamped down.</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">What was most wonderful?</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">The sea, and its wide shoulders;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the sea and its triangles;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the sea lying back on its long athlete’s spine.</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">What did you think was happening?</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">The green breast of the hummingbird;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the eye of the pond;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the wet face of the lily;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the bright, puckered knee of the broken oak;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the red tulip of the fox’s mouth;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">the up-swing, the down-pour, the frayed sleeve</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> of the first snow—</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);">so the gods shake us from our sleep.</div><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"> </p><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(47, 26, 33);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Mary Oliver</div></div></div></body></html>