Deer, wonder, and Mary Oliver

Deer in Austin, Texas. (photo by me, April 2012)

Mary Oliver is my favorite poet. She writes about nature with wonder and reminds me what a magical place, this world can be, if we slow down to notice. I occasionally see deer, when I walk at Blue Sky Reserve, near my home, but when I was in Austin, Texas last month, I saw quite a few deer and each time, I thought of this poem by Mary Oliver. 

The Pine Woods By Mary Oliver

This morning
Two deer
In the pinewoods
In the five A.M. mist,

In a silky agitation,
Went leaping
Down into the shadows
Of the bog

And together
Across the bog
And up the hill
And into the dense trees --

But once
Years ago,
In some kind of rapturous mistake
The deer did not run away

But walked toward me
And touched my hands--
And I have been, ever since,
Separated from my old, comfortable life

Of experience and deduction--
I have been, ever since,
Exalted--
And even now

Though I miss the world
I would not go back--
I would not be anywhere else
But stalled in the happiness

Of the miracle--
Every morning
I stroll out into the fields,

I believe in everything--

I believe in anything--
Even if the deer are wild again
I am still standing under the dark trees,

They are still walking toward me.

 from our Lavender Sage Art Retreat 

from my visit to the Wildflower Center, in Austin, Texas.

(I'm still in Italy...Returning tomorrow.)