One of my favorite poets these days is Mary Oliver. I first heard one of her poems at church a few years ago (as my highly unconventional parish makes a point to integrate modern culture into the experience of mass each week). She is a wonderful observer of the natural world. From what I can tell, I have not shared any of her poems on my blog before - a surprise, because this poem has been a favorite of mine since I bought my first book of her poetry.
Wild Geese
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.
Ahhhhhh . . . I love poetry. I had to read this a second time to let it sink in a little and resonate. I like that though, to sit and stare a little. Though much nicer over a book than a computer screen, heh. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete(I also love the cross-patch-draw-the-latch mushrooms on your banner. I can never remember what that type of needlework is called, but I laaaaaahv it. Through the years my walls are starting to fill up with like-kind. I just love the texture and folk-y-feel of it all. :)
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