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
It's interesting to quote a poet who spoke so little about people directly, but always like animals or in the context of nature. She may also be the best living poet this country has? why her. why now. when will we read your words again; maybe your words on why mary oliver is important to you now.
ReplyDeleteOh man! I thought I fixed the text on this post so you can actually see it..
DeleteI had a conversation with a good friend today that touched on the concept of our primal, basic needs and behaviors and if there is supporting evidence that those who resist these behaviors have brains that are further along in brain evolution...
DeleteI will think on this more and how it may apply to your assertion that Mary Oliver wrote about people "like animals or in the context of nature".
It is true that these concepts are prevalent for me. I am exploring the human mind and behaviors and the reasons why people make the choices they do. Just finished reading Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for the Meaning of Life and his methodology of Logotherapy. I highly recommend it.
I can see it just fine!
ReplyDelete