When I am Among the Trees 

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
- Mary Oliver -

I am a little weepy this morning, worried about a son who continues to crash against the world, 

unable to see a clear path ahead for himself, unable to be there for his own son, just as his own father 

could not be there for him, repeating history.  It's early days I tell myself but still it breaks my heart.