• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Catherine Gacad

  • About
  • Categories
    • Archives
    • Blogging
    • Burning Man
    • City Guides
    • Education & Politics
    • Favorite Books
    • Finances & Retirement
    • Parenthood
    • Relationships
    • Religion
    • San Francisco Bay Area
    • Travel
  • Hire Me
  • Subscribe
    • Feedburner
    • Bloglovin
    • Feedly
  • Search

All Posts

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.

Related

Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

04.03.08

Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to my site, derived from an advice column I wrote while getting my MBA. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I give helpful, opinionated advice based on my own experience and from the expertise of my extensive network. For more, click here.

Categories

  • Archives
  • Blogging
  • Burning Man
  • City Guides
  • Education & Politics
  • Favorite Books
  • Finances & Retirement
  • Parenthood
  • Relationships
  • Religion
  • San Francisco Bay Area
  • Travel

Popular Posts

  • Palm Reading
  • Guide to Palm Springs
  • Nest Egg
  • What to Know About the Lair of the Golden Bear
  • Weekend Getaway: What to Do in Santa Cruz
  • What We Can Learn from Justin Bieber
  • Real Estate Update: 2 Offers, 2 Days
  • Am I Having a Boy or a Girl: How to Tell
  • In 3 Days: A Wedding, a Birthday, and a Funeral
  • Food Glorious Food

Back to top

© 2021 Catherine Gacad.