"Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?/ Am I no longer young and still not half-perfect? Let me/ keep my mind on what matters,/ which is my work,/ which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished."—from "Messenger" by Mary Oliver

I don't have the time to stand still. Today's a particularly trying day: on the construction site two yards over, a huge machine churns and periodically bellows; a monstrous demi-god, woken from slumber, announcing the end of the world to modern deaf ears. The dog keeps barking at it until I walk him around the town. Everyone hurries, waving hasty hellos. Come, Spring, come soon, I need your messengers to bring me news of other worlds. I need to be astonished soon.

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