Next time what I'd do is look at <br />the earth before saying anything. I'd stop <br />just before going into a house <br />and be an emperor for a minute <br />and listen better to the wind <br /> or to the air being still. <br /> <br />When anyone talked to me, whether <br />blame or praise or just passing time, <br />I'd watch the face, how the mouth <br />has to work, and see any strain, any <br />sign of what lifted the voice. <br /> <br />And for all, I'd know more -- the earth <br />bracing itself and soaring, the air <br />finding every leaf and feather over <br />forest and water, and for every person <br />the body glowing inside the clothes <br /> like a light.<br /><br />Mary Oliver<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/next-time/
