geese

Went out to visit John and his family in Buffalo last week. The drive is mostly straight over flat ground. Between Syracuse and Rochester is the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Mostly it's a large swamp at the north end of Cayuga Lake. It is teeming with life, especially at this time of year. Swarms of geese could be seen flying in their usual V-shaped formations, hundreds of them. The refuge is also home to bald eagles. I think I saw one of them as well.

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 your despair, yours, and I will tell you about 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.