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.
HI!! I was trying to leave you a comment on your About page…then went to About me..and wanted to leave you more comments…or just hug you and tell you thank you for saying what you say out loud!!
So I just came to this post to say it…because after reading your moving moving poem..then reading Nadia’s comment that she offered (thank you Nadia!)..my eyes are welled up with tears and I feel very very connected all of a sudden…
So thank you for doing what you do…for sharing and Im going to ad you to my blog roll so I can come back often – as I read your words I felt I could relate on so many levels – so feel free to check out my blog if you like – I am not half as articulate as you and usually over analyzing much of what i live and experience…but deep down…I know the beauty and power we hold within ourselves..and am trying to nurture and grow in that area day by day…
So thank you…a big hug from Canada for being so courageous and beautiful…
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
i just wrote about enough good enough that’s enough on my blog – great minds i say!!!
HI!! I was trying to leave you a comment on your About page…then went to About me..and wanted to leave you more comments…or just hug you and tell you thank you for saying what you say out loud!!
So I just came to this post to say it…because after reading your moving moving poem..then reading Nadia’s comment that she offered (thank you Nadia!)..my eyes are welled up with tears and I feel very very connected all of a sudden…
So thank you for doing what you do…for sharing and Im going to ad you to my blog roll so I can come back often – as I read your words I felt I could relate on so many levels – so feel free to check out my blog if you like – I am not half as articulate as you and usually over analyzing much of what i live and experience…but deep down…I know the beauty and power we hold within ourselves..and am trying to nurture and grow in that area day by day…
So thank you…a big hug from Canada for being so courageous and beautiful…
Dear you (and me)
We are, in fact, Enough
in fact, we are more than Enough
We are infinite
and strong
and beautiful
and wise
and full of more goodness than the world can endure.
[and, oh… how I/we need to hear this over and over and over]