Poem
by: Mary Oliver
The spirit
likes to dress up like this:
ten fingers,
ten toes,
shoulders, and all the rest
at night
in the black branches,
in the morning
in the blue branches
of the world.
It could float, of course,
but would rather
plumb rough matter.
Airy and shapeless thing,
it needs
the metaphor of the body,
lime and appetite,
the oceanic fluids;
it needs the body's world,
instinct
and imagination
and the dark hug of time,
sweetness
and tangibility,
to be understood,
to be more than pure light
that burns
where no one is--
so it enters us--
in the morning
shines from brute comfort
like a stitch of lightning;
and at night
lights up the deep and wondrous
drownings of the body
like a star.
Tonight, Mary Oliver writes about the spirit in her poem "Poem." The spirit that shines like a stitch of lightning. That enters the body and lights it up like a star at night. We can't touch the spirit, or see its airy and shapeless form, until it's clothed in the brute comfort of flesh and breath. Yet, it is always there.
Tonight, I am writing about the spirit, as well. Everyone knows a person whose spirit is so bright it can't be completely contained in a body. A person who lights up the air like a swarm of fireflies. I've had the privilege of having a few people like this in my life--individuals who've made my journey better just by being in it. Because of their kindness and humor and compassion.
My niece, Aubri, celebrated her golden birthday today--27 on the 27th. On more than one occasion in the past, she has reached out to me when I've been struggling with darkness, just to let me know that I'm loved and important to her. In the deepest wells of my life, she has shared her light and laughter with me, and, in doing so, she's reminded me to look up and see the sun and stars.
So, even though an ocean separates us this evening, I want to send her joy and peace, to let her know that her spirit is a lighthouse to me. A beacon that makes me smile, fills me with hope. Because after a long night, the dawn comes with laughter and beauty. Everyone needs an Aubri in their lives.
On her golden day, Saint Marty wishes his niece all the blessings the universe has to offer.
