Saturday, November 28, 2015

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.

~ Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

3 comments:

  1. Wonderful post, Gemma. I didn't know you liked poetry. I love Mary Oliver's writings. My fav poet is/was Edna St. Vincent Millay. They have written similar things. Be well. xoxo

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  2. one of my very favorites!

    my darling, i cannot believe it has been one year since we all gathered to share our mary love. welcome december-and an invitation to share the light of twelve days of mary! i would love to walk these days beside you. xo

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    Replies
    1. I look forward to this every year. Gladly will participate.

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