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 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.
5 comments:
I love this poem- such a good one for exhausting times of transition. I hate most transitions myself and can't imagine what one would feel like if it also involved having to say goodbye to a baby you love. Hope things start to get easier soon.
PS My current favorite Mary Oliver poem "The Summer Day"- I just printed it out an posted it in my office a few weeks ago for perspective!
What a great words to come back to. One Buddhist teacher I know likes to use Mary Oliver poems in her dharma talks. Caitlin, I am thinking of you amidst all your big changes, goodbyes and hellos.
Lauren, I just read "The Summer Day," and absolutely loved it, especially the last two lines:
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"
I can only hope for the grace to accept what's in store for me in my own wild and precious life.
Margaret, thank you for thinking of me. I can feel your virtual hugs, even from 43 degrees south of the equator :-)
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