“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
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
Morning Rudri,
A nice read to start my day, and Mary Oliver is one of my favorite writers.
Bobbi
Mary Oliver is one of my favorites as well. Glad it resonated with you, Bobbi. xo
<3
Fabulous quote to ponder today. Thank you!
This is one of my absolutely favorite poems. I just love Mary Oliver. Then again, who doesn’t? :-)
Agreed. It is easy to fall in love with her poetry.
One of the very best. xox
Gorgeous.
What a gorgeous statement. It makes me feel very hopeful, and it definitely makes me want to be outside with all of that beauty!
Yes – there is so much feeling and emotion capsuled inside of these lines.