Monday 30 May 2011

Graffiti

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.

from Dream Work by Mary Oliver

9 comments:

Dianne said...

Beautiful words Linnea - I love the grafitti!

Dianne said...

Beautiful words Linnea - I love the grafitti

Goose Vintage said...

We like your poem and your picture very much, thanks!

Unknown said...

Thank you! She's a good poet and the cute yellow fella was on the wall of the police academy here in Oslo.

Pierre BOYER said...

Prehistoric painting ???

Pierre

diane b said...

One of the better kinds of graffiti, the poem is wonderful.

Unknown said...

The "cave" of Oslo Police College and just cute. The poem is sensible and forgiving I find.

Jane the Booklady said...

I enjoyed the poem very much and must look up more of her work. thank you for introducing me!....and it's such a lovely piece of Graffiti!
Jane

Unknown said...

Thank you very much!

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