Mary Jane Oliver is one of my favorite poets. 

Much of her poetry centers on her walks in the woods. 

She demonstrated that paying attention to the world around us is essential for understanding our human identity within an ecosystem. 

She is known for her clear and poignant observations of nature. 

Sharing her poem “The Summer Day” –

Who made the world? 

Who made the swan, and the black bear? 

Who made the grasshopper? 

This grasshopper, I mean—

the one who has flung herself out of the grass, 

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, 

who is moving her jaws back and forth 

instead of up and down—

who is gazing around 

with her enormous and complicated eyes. 

Now she lifts her pale forearms 

and thoroughly washes her face. 

Now she snaps her wings open and floats away. 

I don't know exactly what a prayer is. 

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down 

into the grass, how to kneel in the grass, 

how to be idle and blessed, 

how to stroll through the fields, 

which is what I have been doing all day. 

Tell me, what else should I have done? 

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? 

Tell me, what is it you plan to do 

With your one wild and precious life?