You do not have to be good - Mary Oliver - forgive and open your eyes

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

Exert from Wild Geese, a poem by Mary Oliver.

I am not a fan of poetry. I understand that this is a section of literature that I have cut off. I read many other types of writing but, in general, not poetry. Maybe it has to do with the ham-handed way I was taught ("Obviously the albatross is a symbol of guilt/bad luck/good luck/penance." Argh - Just pick one. Or better yet, why a rotting relative of a rooster?).

Now, as a teacher, I know that I shouldn't just blame the teacher for my lack of appreciation. I was that person who had to have explained to him the "glass half empty/glass half full" concept. ( But Alison, both are 50%!)

Back to the present task at hand.

Mary Oliver died recently and the reporting came over my newsfeeds. So I read a poem or two. And maybe I'll read more. I don't know. We'll see.

One of the poems I did read was Wild Geese. A squawking sign of natural rhythms. The quote is from the first line of the poem. That caught my attention. Then the last line grabbed me as well

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination...

Everyone, if he or she is willing to peer outside the mundane happenings of everyday life, has imagination.

The poem is still sinking in for me. The concepts of nature, loneliness, forgiveness, and the others I haven't seen yet all stored in a bushel of words. Challenging, liberating, and sad.

Gratitudes: nice keyboards, coffee, balcony plants.

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Benevolent Quotations

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