- Joined
- Nov 19, 2007
- Messages
- 4,568
HopeDream,
I just wanted to thank you for posting this poem in another thread (which I don't want to threadjack, so I started a new one here.) To put it simply, it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. It really appeals to my sensibilities. Upon reading it, I immediately ordered two copies of Dream Work, one for myself and one for a friend who is in the struggle of her life. Sadly, she is not winning, and she is so sad. I want her to know that it is ok. And, I want her to read something beautiful too, and maybe to feel a bit ok with the world again.
I can't imagine how I ever would have come across "Wild Geese" on my own, had I not seen your post. So, thank you.
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.
from Dream Work by Mary Oliver
I just wanted to thank you for posting this poem in another thread (which I don't want to threadjack, so I started a new one here.) To put it simply, it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. It really appeals to my sensibilities. Upon reading it, I immediately ordered two copies of Dream Work, one for myself and one for a friend who is in the struggle of her life. Sadly, she is not winning, and she is so sad. I want her to know that it is ok. And, I want her to read something beautiful too, and maybe to feel a bit ok with the world again.
I can't imagine how I ever would have come across "Wild Geese" on my own, had I not seen your post. So, thank you.
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.
from Dream Work by Mary Oliver
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