a poem

[chelidon]

This poem just came to mind tonight. thought I'd share it...

Wild Geese

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, from Dream Work, 1986

Comments

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

well, there you go. I drove home from work trying to remember the rest of that poem, and making a mental note to remember to find it on my drive. and you post it. synchronicity!

*rereads happily*

[mystfemme.livejournal.com]

Mmm. I need to remember that I have a place in the family of things. Thank you.
(Always remember. Never forget.)

[morrigandaughtr.livejournal.com]

Thank you for that.

[lylythe-strega.livejournal.com]

"You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves."

A good, nice, and proper thing to remember. Thank you.