Friday at the Feeder

Sparrows!

The Beautiful, Stripped Sparrow

by Mary Oliver

in the afternoons,


in the almost empty fields,


i hum the hymns


i used to sing

in church.


they could not tame me,


so they would not keep me,


alas,

and how that feels,

the weight of it,


i will not tell


any of you,

not ever.


still, as they promised,


God, once he is in your heart,


is everywhere -

so even here


among the weeds


and the brisk trees.

how long does it take

to hum a hymn? strolling


one or two acres


of the sweetness


of the world,

not counting


a lapse, now and again,


of sheer emptiness.


once a deer

stood quietly at my side.


and sometimes the wind


has touched my cheek


like a spirit.

am i lonely?


the beautiful, striped sparrow,


serenely, on the tallest weed in his kingdom,


also sings without words.