Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver
Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver
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
My friend Leo put me onto this poem very recently, and it’s made me want to read more by Mary Oliver. The imagery blends in a way that lets me lose myself in this poem for a moment (I’m realising with this calendar that I just really like pastoral poetry – but sadly lack the knack for writing any of my own).
Meditation has never worked for me, but reading poems like this is how I imagine the experience is meant to feel. So if you ever think I’m stressed, please send me a poem about the natural world.
Featured Image: An eagle soars over the Heavenly Lake. The link here is much more metaphorical (also, I don’t think I have any goose photos as I’m usually too busy giving them a wide berth) – this photo takes me back to Xinjiang and the first place apart from Essex that felt like home.
TJC 
Mary Oliver writes beautiful poetry…
LikeLike