…it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.

—Mary Oliver

Awakening earlier than you’d like,
somber, sober, shielding your eyes

from the insistent dawn, you
dampen your face and sigh.

Look at this fresh morning
breaking out like a happy rash

into this—yes, unfortunately—
broken world. You have no way

to fix any of it, but you are here,
alive in this moment, and it is

morning again. You woke into it,
a thing both serious and miraculous,

really, when you think about it.
Despite it all, a tiny piece of you

dares to love this broken world,
wants to linger in the great gift of it,

to say thank you, out loud,
to the sun, which has risen again.

Look into the new day,
squinting, if you must, smiling,

if you can. This brilliantly fresh
morning is reaching for you,

and you, lucky human, get to
step out into it.

•••

Mary Oliver excerpt from “Invitation”
in her collection, Red Bird © 2009, Beacon Press