Friday, February 19, 2010

Poetry Friday -- Heavenly Sunshine


When I was a wee one in summer Vacation Bible School, I loved two things: the frosted animal crackers for snack and the songs. I took those songs to heart. I'd get up early and go out to stand in the middle of the back yard and belt out "Heavenly SUNshine, heavenly SUNshine, filling my soul with glory dee-vi-ine..." and I'd FEEL the glory divine filling my soul.

Recently, our winter skies have yielded more tentative sunshine (as above) than heavenly sunshine. We're due for some bright blue skies and warmth.

Here's Mary Oliver's take on early morning sun:

WHY I WAKE EARLY

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety –


(the rest of the poem is here)


Irene has the roundup at Live. Love. Learn!

11 comments:

  1. Beautiful poem, Mary Lee. Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets.

    Laura Evans

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  2. Oh, so beautiful it stops me.

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  3. Love the poem, and the image of you eating frosted animal crackers and singing at the top of your lungs. Good morning!

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  4. This would be a great poem for little ones to act out. I'd love to see 5 or 6 year olds act out "crotchety"!

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  5. Oh, my goodness---I wish there was a video of that backyard singing sun salutation!

    I think you can tell early who's going to grow up and love Mary Oliver. :)

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  6. I love this. I want to print it out and read it every morning!

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  8. You have to come back to Colorado to get the Heavenly sunshine!

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  9. Anonymous1:04 PM

    I love this poem. I think the poetry friday idea is a wonderful way to share another genre with students. My students are looking forward to Friday's poetry!
    Thanks,
    Jeff Hillis

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  10. Love this! I hate hot summer days, but I love heavenly sunshine in winter. Nothing like it.

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  11. Beautiful poem--and lovely blog (just discovered it!). For those perfect early moments, my favorite is "AUGUST MORNING" by Albert Garcia.

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