but looking, and touching, and loving.

"Understand, I am always trying to figure out

what the soul is,

and where hidden,

and what shape-

and so, last week,

when I found on the beach

the ear bone

of a pilot whale that may have died

hundreds of years ago, I thought

maybe I was close

to discovering something-

...I believe I will never quite know.

Though I play at the edges of knowing,

truly I know

our part is not knowing,

but looking, and touching, and loving."

-Mary Oliver, "Bone"