Finding Joy
Hilma aft Klint, No. 4, Youth
Wedding Poem
By Ross Gay
Friends, I am here to modestly report
seeing in an orchard
in my town
a goldfinch
kissing a sunflower
again and again
dangling upside down
by its tiny claws
steadying itself by snapping open
like an old-timey fan
its wings
again and again
until, swooning, it tumbled off
to the very same perch,
where the sunflower curled its giant
swirling of seeds
around the bird and leaned back
to admire the soft wind
nudging the bird’s plumage,
and friends I could see
the points on the flower’s stately crown
soften and curl inward
as it almost indiscernibly lifted
the food of of its body
to the bird’s nuzzling mouth
whose fervor I could hear from
oh 20 or 30 feet away
and see from the tiny hulls
that sailed from their
good racket,
which good racket, I have to say,
was making me blush,
and rock up on my tippy-toes,
and just barely purse my lips
with what I realize now
was being, simply, glad,
which such love,
if we let it,
makes us feel.
Finding Joy
Ross Gay assures us that joy is not elusive, and in this poem offers a way to think about joy, and how to find it. That’s with curiosity, a state of mind that opens windows, and lets in the fresh air of novelty, when it’s most needed. There are times in life when the curtains are closed, by work, family concerns, physical illness. And yet, as evident in this poem, the object for seeing need not be exotic, and is always close by. Ross Gay’s bird and sunflower are throbbing with life, but to see it requires concentrated looking. Something as ordinary as a bird eating sunflower seeds reveals to the dedicated onlooker, an extraordinary incident of ardent passion. He could see:
. . . the bird’s nuzzling mouth
whose fervor I could hear from
oh 20 or 30 feet away
and see from the tiny hulls
that sailed from their
good racket
Notice the way the scene is portrayed, with such focussed attention – because this fervor is important! Because the lust of the bird for a feast on sunflower seeds is humanly recognizable.
So often, as illustrated here, gladness comes from the amplification of ordinary pleasures. A blast of light from a harvest moon, the surge of an ocean’s ripple into a glassy wave. This sensual poem sings with gladness. It reminds us that nature abounds with opportunities to pique our curiosity and joy, if we only pause long enough to receive them.
What have you seen out there in the world, that brought you joy?
5 Comments. Leave new
Thank you for posting this beautiful poem from Ross Gay and for sharing such an insightful interpretation of it. I don’t remember the last time I engaged with poetry, and sharing my thoughts on a poem is a new experience for me. Your reflection on when life’s challenges, including work, family concerns, and illness, can feel like curtains closing, brought up a lot of emotions…
Thanks again for sharing your inspiring “Canyon Petals” webpage and thoughtful interpretations of the poems.
Thank you, Nikki. I hope this poem, and others, will give you the experience of curtains parting, and allowing you to be comfortably in touch with those emotions. That’s what poets want for you!
Thank you for your encouraging words, Carrie.
Longing for “curtain part” moments!
What a lovely poem. It fills my heart and causes me to look out my window in hopes that I will spy a similar scene. I have always loved the word “glad”. It reminds me of Haley Mills in the movie Pollyanna.
Yes, “glad” is a wonderful word that goes back to the Anglo-Saxon origins of English, meaning “smooth and bright”. That’s just how a reader must feel about their experience of Ross Gay’s poem. Just watching that bird relish sunflower seeds softens the rough corners of a day. Ah, yes, looking out that window, Pollyanna would say, “Let’s play the glad game!”