I know, Lilly. I know.

The Sheep Detectives, 2026

Whispered Poem

Mary Oliver

I have been risky in my endeavors,

I have been steadfast in my loves;

Oh Lord, consider these when you judge me.

All real living is meeting.

- Martin Buber, I and Thou

Today is a day of

dark clouds and slow rain.

The little blades of corn

are so happy.

- Mary Oliver

Don't think, but look!

- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (§66)

For a large class of cases—though not for all—in which 

we employ the word 'meaning' it can be defined thus: 

the meaning of a word is its use in the language."

- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (§43)

On the beach, at dawn:

four small stones clearly

hugging each other.

How many kinds of love

might there be in the world,

and how many formations might they make

and who am I ever

to imagine I could know

such a marvelous business?

- Mary Oliver

6.522

There is indeed the inexpressible. This shows itself; it is the mystical.

7

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus

litografia

claudia roquette-pinto

mas se eu uso uma palavra nova

como tivesse uma pedra na língua 

áspera troca tranca trinca

maxilares dormentes

cada síbaba faz-se displicente

o acaso de estar intrometida

entre outros rumores ainda

mais dizeres

pronuncia-se esta pepita 

com lábios de desagravo

enquanto em segredo relevos

de quartzo

chacoalham num alvoroço

de dentes e ditos e datas

custa o tempo de um tropeço

lapidar uma palavra

Foolishness? No, It’s Not

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 the 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

Is a prayer a gift, or a petition,

or does it matter?

- Mary Oliver

Absolute attention is prayer.
- Simone Weil

Branches without leaves over bare ground

pretend to reveal everything.

- Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge

stillness turns in its well

- mei-mei berssenbrugge

Yet suddenly: silence.

- Georg Trakl