Invitation by Mary Oliver

Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy

and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles

for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,

or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air

as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine

and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude—
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing

just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,

do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.

It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.

Invitation

How can I resist an invitation from Mary Oliver? Her poems, woven into my life, so often come at just the right moment, which is what good poems do for us. Oh do you have time / to linger, in spite of your busy / and very important day, she asks. Just the word linger speaks of slowing down, of spending unplanned time. She invites us to notice the goldfinches / that have gathered / in a field of thistles // for a musical battle, to listen and notice which song is the most expressive of mirth, / or the most tender. How often do we really listen that closely?

Their beaks drink the air as they sing their songs, for no other reason than for sheer delight and gratitude. Pay attention, they sing, it is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in the broken world. How we need reminding some days of reasons to be alive, to feel gratitude for your one wild and precious life, as she asks us about in The Summer Day (https://www.mindfulnessassociation.net/words-of-wonder/the-summer-day-mary-oliver/).

She implores us not to walk by this rather ridiculous performance, these bright yellow birds fluttering in the trees, drunk with their music, giving themselves to us wholeheartedly. Then, in case it had not yet occurred to us, she grabs our attention saying, this could mean something or everything. It could even mean what the poet Rilke meant when he wrote You must change your life. Consider this entreaty next time you fail to linger to hear a songbird chorus.