Foolishness? No, It's Not

by Mary Oliver

Sometimes I spend all day trying to count 

the leaves on a single tree. To do this I

have to climb branch by branch and

write down the numbers in a little book.

So I suppose, from their point of view,

it's reasonable that my friends say: what

foolishness! She's got her head in the clouds

again.

But it's not. Of course I have to give up,

but by then I'm half crazy with the wonder

of it- the abundance of leaves, the

quietness of the branches, the hopelessness

of my effort. And I am in that delicious

and important place, roaring with laughter,

full of earth-praise.