On a foggy beach walk, I heard the geese calling...
Whether they were comforting each other in the fog, glad to be home or the courting season has begun, the geese-talk was loud and clear on the beach during our walk. Casper and I stepped into the cottage wet from the mist, I made a cup of tea, opened a book and saw this poem by Mary Oliver...it just sort of grabbed me in the moment...
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.
i like this poem. looks like a nice walk on the beach too!
Posted by: gwendolen | February 06, 2007 at 01:18 AM
very lovely.
Posted by: cara | February 06, 2007 at 03:42 AM
Very nice poem. I think I may have to print myself out a copy of it.
Posted by: Sarah Jane | February 06, 2007 at 08:45 AM
What a lovely poem and photo. I wish I had a foggy beach near by, on which to walk, and listen to the geese and gulls. :0)
Posted by: Betty Jo | February 06, 2007 at 10:31 AM
Lovely pictures. I know this poem. Very well.
Posted by: Jenny | February 06, 2007 at 11:01 AM
i absolutely love this poem! thank you for reminding me!
"You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves."...my favourite.
Posted by: Veronica TM | February 06, 2007 at 09:17 PM
Beautifully crafted poem, and with the lovely picture of the shingle I feel a yearning to be by the sea, landlocked as we are.
Posted by: PG | February 07, 2007 at 11:06 AM
We saw them coming back in on our walk the other day, too. That is a gorgeous poem. Winter is on it's way out...my snowdrops are out, and my tulips and daffies are beginning to peek out of the ground now!
Posted by: dilling | February 07, 2007 at 11:11 AM
Beautiful I love the geese sound, just not the geese poop, its a BIG problem here! BIG
Posted by: Monica/Monimania | February 07, 2007 at 09:01 PM