And the speck of my heart, in my shed of flesh
and bone, began to sing out, the way the sun
would sing if the sun could sing, if light had a
mouth and a tongue, if the sky had a throat, if
god wasn’t just an idea but shoulders and a spine,
gathered from everywhere, even the most distant
planets, blazing up. Where am I? Even the rough
words come back to me now, quick as thistles. Who
made your tyrant’s body, your thirst, your delving,
your gladness? Oh tiger, oh bone-breaker,
oh tree on fire! Get away from me. Come closer.
—Mary Oliver, from section 3 of “West Wind” in West Wind: Poems and Prose Poems (Mariner Books, 1997) (via growing-orbits)
