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MARY ANN MOSS

time & light are kinds of loves

 Friday.  A day set aside for rejoicing.  Instead of thinking about the 312 things I have to do back at school on Monday, I came home and read a poem.

I thought about how I watched this flower open in the dark on Thursday night.  While I stood out back shining my flashlight on the opening petals.  A real live magic show.

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This is a night blooming epiphylum.  She only blooms at night and only lasts until late morning.  If I hadn’t been doing laundry in the garage.  If I hadn’t of looked across the patio at the exact right moment.  If I hadn’t found my flashlight in time.  I would have missed the show.

I bent my head down close and heard the petals brush against night air.  A tiny whoosh of air.  So tiny I might have imagined it.  Except I didn’t.

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Enjoy your weekend pleasures.  I’ll just be here.  Sitting out in the sun.  Listening.

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The Word

 

Down near the bottom
of the crossed-out list
of things you have to do today,

between “green thread”
and “broccoli,” you find
that you have penciled “sunlight.”

Resting on the page, the word
is beautiful. It touches you
as if you had a friend

and sunlight were a present
he had sent from someplace distant
as this morning—to cheer you up,

and to remind you that,
among your duties, pleasure
is a thing

that also needs accomplishing.
Do you remember?
that time and light are kinds

of love, and love
is no less practical
than a coffee grinder

or a safe spare tire?
Tomorrow you may be utterly
without a clue,

but today you get a telegram
from the heart in exile,
proclaiming that the kingdom

still exists,
the king and queen alive,
still speaking to their children,

—to any one among them
who can find the time
to sit out in the sun and listen.

by Tony Hoagland

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Comments

  3. The lucky flower, the beautiful poem, the many ‘thank you’s’ here… You are a blessing, thank you for sharing the grandeur.

  4. What a story! What a poem! I’ve jotted it down and am hatching plans to add it to a batch of handcrafted postcards to leave around town. The only thing better than finding this poem would be finding it onthe back of a piece of art left for me to find.

  6. Mary Ann,
    Copied that poem right down, I did… I love it… It helped to ease my guilt for the mornings when I sit out on my deck and do nothing but watch the clouds and the birds… It is important, isn’t it? “Pleasure is a thing… that also needs accomplishing.” I could never have said it that well!!!
    thanks,
    Susan

  7. Beautiful flower. Sensitive cat.
    Driving back to work an hour ago
    I thought ahh sunshine. Top five
    no — top two favorite things in the world.
    Amazing poem. Why can’t I write like that?
    I’m glad someone can express it for me.
    I am grateful for all your’ve shared, Mary Ann.

  8. You always touch my heart Mary ann. Took my son to university yesterday. Have that empty nest feeling! Read the sweet poem and saw the beautiful photo of your cat. There is such a vulnerability about that photo, his sweet little expression in his eyes and his little furry neck.It made my heart ache for my beautiful Chloe who got knocked over in June.Who can live without a pussycat??

  9. Thank you for the beautiful poem and photos. It’s only 9 am and already todayI have learned of two new poets. This one from you and Charles Simic from a friend on FB. I think this will be a special kind of day.
    xxoo
    AM

  13. Beautiful poem, beautiful flower–how lucky you were to witness it’s birth!! Your photography, as always, is spectacular!! Thank you for all the inspiration!! Oh, BTW, I haven’t yet told you how much I love your new fence–a perfect addition to Moss Cottage. Good luck with your new batch of craft monkeys!! I know you will tame them and make them your own!!

  14. Thanks so much for the poem, as I have been “shoulding” on myself today. Now I have a direction, a true sense of what I “need” to be doing…..heading to the deck with a book/journal in hand to enjoy this gorgeous day full of sunlight.

  15. Your flower took my breath away! I’m sitting on the couch, drinking coffee listening to the bird chatter outside. It must have been some Sat. night because they are chirping away. Happy Sunday!
    Marissa

  16. i cannot thank you enough for sharing the poem and the reminder of God’s grander. you are a treasure a reading your blog is like receiving a gift!

  19. violet cadburry bunny i personally enjoy WRITERS ALMANAC for poetry finds. i have a link for it on my sidebar. an icon of open book in the DIG section near the pic of garrison keillor. he does the daily reading of the poem.
    fantastic!

  20. such beauty, such lovely words and thoughts to begin my day. I can feel the warmth all the way to here. My heart is happy and I am ever thankful to share this world with you.

  21. Beautiful! A wonderful reminder to slow down and enjoy the beauty in nature. As hard as you try Mary Ann, you do not stop teaching simply by exiting your classroom. Thank you for sharing your natural talent!

  22. Thank you for this gift. The king and queen still exist indeed. She lives in a far away land, where the sun always shine, and the flowers bloom at night.

  23. A most wonderful post, a most wonderful poem. May I ask which of Mr. Hoagland’s collected works this poem appears in so I can get my own copy.
    And have a wonderful weekend, night and day, minute and hour.

  26. Beautiful poems and that flower – how lucky you were to just happen to notice it blooming! I’m loving your journal pages as well and need to get started in my own – just wish there were more time!

  27. I think one of the things that makes you so special is the time and attention you give to living in your world. Flowers open, suns rise and set, the day starts and ends. And you make the time to notice them.
    They are there for any of us but you give them import and value.
    Then you share it.
    Thanks, Mary Ann

  28. Just lovely – I want to hear a flower open too! Love the poem – and I’m a person who usually, despite trying and trying to love it, finds it annoying like nails on a blackboard (don’t hit me!).

  32. beautiful photos as always, and what a lovely poem! here in Ohio, in the early morning, it is foggy-dark-rainy…but I think there is a carl sandburg poem about fog going quietly ‘on little cat feet.’ I will try to think of it that way. I always enjoy your adventures, and envy your sunlight!

  34. Gorgeous poem and where did you find it? I love poetry but haven’t settled on a magazine or digest or book that serves my desires. Where do you find the poetry that speaks to you? Love the pic of Wyatt, we all listen best when our pupils are contracted into mere slits when facing the sunshine:)

  35. Thanks for sharing………..I love the story of the epiphylum and how great you were able to catch it. It sounds like your week days are pretty full……so rest and maybe cuddle with Wyatt. cheers!!!

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