Listen to the Forest

How I Go Into the Woods
by Mary Oliver

Ordinarily I go to the woods alone,
with not a single friend,
for they are all smilers and talkers
and therefore unsuitable.

I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree.
I have my ways of praying,
as you no doubt have yours.

Besides, when I am alone
I can become invisible.
I can sit on the top of a dune
as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned.

I can hear the almost unhearable sound of the roses singing.
If you have ever gone to the woods with me,
I must love you very much.
—-

The bright colors always find their way back out of the woods when summer arrives.
An 8x10in watercolor on paper, frame included.