~/Wild Geese/~ By -Mary Oliver
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 don't like to analyze/explain a poem word for word because I'm not good at it, it feels likes I'm ruining its sweetness and value. However, this poem hit and broke and squeezed my heart sooo hard for many reasons, in many ways since I first time read it. It's basically encourages the reader to be himself. It's telling the reader that we all are not perfect and we don't have to feel low for being imperfect. We all suffer in a way or another.
You're not alone.
I LOVE EVERY WORD OF THIS POEM.
But the most lines that really hit me are,
"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."
"Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination."
And "announcing your place in the family of thing" most deeply beautiful line.
I REALLY LOVE EVERY WORD OF THIS POEM! EVERY WORD!!
This link to the poem and its analysis for whom might be interested in in-depth analysis.
http://gwenglish.blogspot.com/2014/04/poem-of-day-mary-olivers-wild-geese.html
And if you this poem you might want to check out this one called
"the summer day" also by Mary Oliver!