A poem by Mary Oliver came to mind today. While I have been enjoying two days of self-imposed hibernation, and given the choice could enjoy many more days of the same, the world goes on. I can listen, or not, and talk, or not, and often I do not make the right choice the first time. I am still learning to let go and breathe, while I look for my place....
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.
from New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver, Beacon Press, 1992.
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5 comments:
oh my god, Sharon you have posted my most favorite poem! When asked to write down a favorite quote anywhere I always always write this:
"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."
How much more simple could life be than THAT. Glad you had an enjoyable few days for yourself. Welcome back to the world.
Peace~
Dawn
How I do love Mary Oliver's way of seeing the world. the world that moves, even as we sit still.
Beautiful verse, indeed. Don't we all yearn for that place she speaks of, amidst the life around us.
OOOOOH, SHARON!!
I LOVE Mary Oliver!
MY favorite is the poem about the loons. Lead.
If you haven't read it, please do.
Patti
http://www.panhala.net/Archive/Lead.html
When I hear the geese honking tonight in the little lake across the street from my house, I'm going to remember this poem.
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