The poem
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.
I've loved Mary's poems for at least 25 years, and this one is a favorite. Her words sweep through my heart every time I read them... and I thank her dearly for that gift.
The simplicity but powerfulness of this poem is awesome. Mary reminds us that while we are so occupied with worries etc., we fail to see the beauty around us and the blessings given to us. She reminds us to be present to the Present Moment - otherwise we will miss out on the best of life.
This is my first peek at a poem by Mary Oliver , I found it emotionally sweeping , so natural, rationally simplistic and I was captured by the muscle of the words...Thank you it is beautiful.
Gary Morneau
Thank you Mary
Very nice and useful poem
Thanks alot
Ruqaiya Al-Jabri_Oman