"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
7 comments:
oh these words are beautiful....
and the image....so striking
Thanks for sharing this.She is my favorite modern point.
thank you for this. awesome
This is one of my favorites! Especially "You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves..."
Empties me out every time I read it!
ive never heard this before.
it's heart moving.
xo,
mary
yes, this is always good to remember. thanks for sharing it on a day when i needed to hear it.
so beautiful, these words. wow.
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