Lingering in Carlsbad with Megan

Whenever I come across a Little Free Library, my sense of goodness in the world ticks up a few notches. If I should ever come across a Little Free Library with a poem tucked inside—a Mary Oliver poem that I’d never read before—jeez-o-flip, my goodness meter would shoot to eleven. (Spinal Tap fans will get the reference.)

 

Thanks to today’s guest Poem Elf, Megan McDonell of Carlsbad, California, for providing time/to linger/for just a little while in a moment of eleven. God knows we all need one!

 

*

 

 

An 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.

 

 

Hi there! I’m friends with Christine—she told me about your poem project, so I left mine in a little library box where I live in Carlsbad, CA. Here are the photos. I hope whoever finds it can read my terrible handwriting 🙂 What a fun idea!

—Megan