William Carlos Williams wrote that “It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.” You would think, by now, we would have had enough of the news.
Wow this is such a beautiful read 🙏🏽 That Mary Oliver poem! The context in which you first read it and your response perfectly captures the profound power of poetry. Thank you for all the nuggets of wisdom you share - I feel so inspired to incorporate more poetry into my life
Glad you felt inspired, Sophie! Yes, "Wild Geese" is one of my favorites. If you like Mary Oliver, her collection Devotions is a great one to dig into. Thanks so much for your encouraging feedback :)
I agree. I read poetry after morning meditation. It slows time and expands my heart, helping me relate to the external world with more patience and compassion.
I remember actually writing poetry on scrap paper I'd snuck into my geometry workbook in class. The teacher used to praise my diligent work ethic as she could only see me scribbling away in the back of the room, but I was learning anything, except where my heart lie. I'd eventually go to her and say I didn't understand and then she'd explain it to me, convinced I was doing my best. I was. Just not with geometry. Does writing poetry count?
Wow this is such a beautiful read 🙏🏽 That Mary Oliver poem! The context in which you first read it and your response perfectly captures the profound power of poetry. Thank you for all the nuggets of wisdom you share - I feel so inspired to incorporate more poetry into my life
Glad you felt inspired, Sophie! Yes, "Wild Geese" is one of my favorites. If you like Mary Oliver, her collection Devotions is a great one to dig into. Thanks so much for your encouraging feedback :)
Going to check it out 🙏🏽😊
I love everything about this post 🙌
Thanks!
I agree. I read poetry after morning meditation. It slows time and expands my heart, helping me relate to the external world with more patience and compassion.
I love Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver.
Ah, reading poetry after meditation sounds like a great practice. I feel like I know what you mean about slowing time, too!
Banger read. Loved this one, both the draft and final essay.
Invictus by William Ernest Henley is a great poem.
Thanks for sharing this poem, Ishan. <3
My pleasure. I love this poem, and I think others will resonate with it as well :)
I love this poem as well:
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.
Wow Lucy, that's very powerful! Thanks for sharing <3
I think those are the closing lines to MO’s Wild Geese. Wendell Berry has a beautiful poem with the same title, Wild Geese:
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear,
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.
It's great the both Oliver's and Berry's "Wild Geese" are such lovely poems.
Thanks, Ishan! And thanks for sharing "Invictus." Reminds me a bit of Kipling's "If" in that Victorian Stoicism :)
I remember actually writing poetry on scrap paper I'd snuck into my geometry workbook in class. The teacher used to praise my diligent work ethic as she could only see me scribbling away in the back of the room, but I was learning anything, except where my heart lie. I'd eventually go to her and say I didn't understand and then she'd explain it to me, convinced I was doing my best. I was. Just not with geometry. Does writing poetry count?
Ha, I did the same thing in math class. Clearly we did not have geometric temperaments :)