“Wild Geese“ by Mary Oliver

I came across a link to the wonderful poem “Wild Geese“ from Mary Oliver in an article regarding the collapse of biodiversity in the USA, a crisis also being experienced around the world including in the UK which is now one of the most nature-depleted countries globally.

The American poet Mary Oliver published "Wild Geese" in her seventh collection, "Dream Work", which came out in 1986.

The poem's speaker urges readers to open themselves up to the beauty of nature. While people focus on their own petty struggles, the speaker points out that the natural world moves along effortlessly, free as a flock of geese passing overhead. The poem celebrates nature's grandeur and its ability to remind people that, after all, they are part of something vast and meaningful.

The speaker tells readers that they don't have to be perfect, nor do they have to beat themselves up by wandering the desert as if paying for their sins. Instead, people only have to treat their bodies like the vulnerable animals that they are, simply letting them love whatever they want to love.

The speaker offers to commiserate with readers about their suffering and unhappiness but adds that while they talk about this, the world will continue like normal …. sunshine and rain will move over the earth's wide-open plains, tall trees, mountains, and rivers. Wild geese will fly overhead in the open sky on their way home.

No matter who you are or how lonely you are, the speaker says you can always lose yourself in the wonders of the natural world since these wonders call out like the urgent calls of wild geese …. a sound that, again and again, puts people back in touch with their surroundings and makes them feel at home in the world.

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature