Foolishness? No, It's Not

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.

--Mary Oliver