The poem
Next time what I'd do is look at the earth before saying anything. I'd stop just before going into a house and be an emperor for a minute and listen better to the wind or to the air being still.
When anyone talked to me, whether blame or praise or just passing time, I'd watch the face, how the mouth has to work, and see any strain, any sign of what lifted the voice.
And for all, I'd know more -- the earth bracing itself and soaring, the air finding every leaf and feather over forest and water, and for every person the body glowing inside the clothes like a light.
I'd watch for nature's friendly smiles, her sunbeam's nurturing rays; Inhale more deeply the season's silent, yet sparkling displays- I'd greet the spring's bursting buds with a fond and pleasant,"Hello"; Then instill in all mortals the faces of nature so aglow!-
I'm confused: I just read this poem in a compilation of poems by William Stafford entitled "The Way It Is" on page 211.
poem
This poem is by William Stafford (not Mary Oliver).