The sense of ever-ness (Mary Oliver)

   Sometimes the desire to be lost again, as long ago, comes over me like a vapor.  With growth into adulthood, responsibilities claimed me, so many heavy coats.  I didn’t choose them.  I don’t fault them, but it took time to reject them.

   Now in the spring, I kneel, I put my face into the packets of violets, the dampness, the freshness, the sense of ever-ness.

   Something is wrong, I know it, if I don’t keep my attention on eternity.  May I be the tiniest nail in the house of the universe, tiny but useful.

   May I stay forever in the stream.

   Attention is the beginning of devotion.

--Mary Oliver, Upstream

Image source:  https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-violets-steal-your-sense-of-smell-5913813