It's not a competition, it's a doorway. - Mary Oliver

Sometimes I think, were I just a little rougher made, I would go altogether to the woods — to my work entirely, and solitude, a few friends, books, my dogs, all things peaceful, ready for meditation and industry — if for no other reason than to escape the heart-jamming damages and discouragements of the worlds mean spirits. But, no use. Even the most solitudinous of us is communal by habit, and indeed by commitment to the bravest of our dreams, which is to make a moral world. The whirlwind of human behavior is not to be set aside.

When I have to die, I would like to die
on a day of rain -
long rain, slow rain, the kind you think will never end.

I woke
And crept
Like a cat

On silent feet
About my own house-
To look

At you
While you were sleeping,
Your hair

Sprayed on the pillow,
Your eyes
Closed,

Your body
Safe and solitary,
And my doors

Shut for your safety
And your comfort.
I did this

Thinking I was intruding
Yet wanting to see
The most beautiful thing

That has ever been in my house.