<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Little Owl Who Lives in the Orchard</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 26px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">His beak could open a bottle,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and his eyes---when he lifts their soft lids---</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">go on reading something </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">just beyond your shoulder---</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Blake, maybe, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">or the Book of Revelation.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 26px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Never mind that he eats only </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the black-smocked crickets,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and dragonflies if they happen</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">to be out late over the ponds,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and, of course, the occasional festal mouse.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Never mind that he's only a memo</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">from the offices of fear---</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 26px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">it's not size but surge that tells </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">when we're in touch with something real,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and when I hear him in the orchard</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">fluttering </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">down the little aluminum </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">ladder of his scream---</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">when I see his wings open, like two black ferns,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 26px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">a flurry of palpitations</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">as cold as sleet </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">rackets across the marshlands </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">of my heart,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">like a wild spring day. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Somewhere in the universe, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">in the gallery of important things</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the babyish owl, ruffled and rakish, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">sits on its pedestal.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Dear, dark dapple of plush! </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">A message reads the label, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">from that mysterious conglomerate: </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><i class="">Oblivion and Company</i>.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">The hooked head stares </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">from its blouse of dark feathery lace. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">It could be a valentine.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""> </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Mary Oliver</div></div></body></html>