joy !

(Using the Golden Shovel method, this is an excerpt from Mary Oliver’s “Don’t Hesitate.”)

"Anyway, whatever it is, don't be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb."

I shall not stray away, for I will want to return anyway.

You can eat a flower or put the petals in whatever

Or you can leave it be and time will still be unkind to it.

The bouquet is dying as it is

So if you desire to try to keep it alive, don’t!

Set it free, let it die, leave it be.

Yet still, you wouldn’t lose a penny to stop being afraid.

For fear reminds us of what the world is fondest of;

the terrible unknowns, the tragedies, the darkness and its

unforgiving wit, the stories of which are gruesome and plenty.

For every fortnight, on my bedside, sits fragile joy.

I greet her, and she smiles, bliss is what she is

And yet, her countenance shows not

The many fears that she has made.

For when she is gone who shall I turn to?

In her absence is solitude and that cannot be.

Thus, I shall allow sleep and pretend she is but a

Feast in a midsummer night’s dream and allow myself a crumb.