Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver

by Mary Oliver

Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

This morning the goldenrod are all wearing their golden shirts fresh from heaven’s soft wash in the chill night. So it must be a celebration.

Maybe I will, someday, somewhere. Maybe I won’t. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that, when I saw them, I saw them as through the veil, secretly, joyfully, clearly.