I saw some Canadian geese yesterday in the sky, and also along the river grazing. It reminded me of one of my favorite poems. This poem helps me remember that life is good, that things have a reason, and a season, and a time.
Enjoy the long weekend!
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.
Oh, thank you – that’s wonderful! I never tire of Mary Oliver and I am *always* grateful to be reminded that we don’t need to be good. Ahh… Relief!
A moment of synchronicity… I went to a wedding this weekend and one of the speakers quoted part of this poem 🙂