Sunday, March 19, 2017

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees 
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. 
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
love what it loves. 
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. 
Meanwhile the world goes on. 
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain 
are moving across the landscapes, 
over the prairies and the deep trees, 
the mountains and the rivers. 
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, 
are heading home again. 
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 
the world offers itself to your imagination, 
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place 
in the family of things.                                                         

 © Mary Oliver


4 comments:

  1. Causes pause, in a good sense.
    Peaceful.
    Encourages gratitude.
    I really like Mary Oliver's work.

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    1. Oops. My comment posted twice. I deleted the duplicate. :)

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  3. "announcing your place
    in the family of things."

    Yeah, Iots to ponder.

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