I’m still pondering the importance of paying attention, especially to joy. I think the reason Mary Oliver and Billy Collins are my two favorite living poets is probably their knack for paying close attention to things many of us miss so that we might see something we hadn’t seen...

On Thursday I shared a few of the poems of Billy Collins, one of my favorite poets. Today a poem from another favorite poet, Mary Oliver. Oliver is the writer of the luminous and inspiring “Summer Day,” and what I like about her poetry is that it always feels honest, like she is sharing...

I’d known – and loved – the closing line of Mary Oliver’s poem The Summer Day for years. A family in our neighborhood in St. Paul had made a large mosaic featuring it and hung it beside their front door. Whether walking the dog or running with a friend, I’d pass by their home and...