'The Family of Things'

 Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

"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 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.

Writing prompts:

1. Read Mary Oliver's well-known and reassuring poem. Is there a phrase or a line that you are drawn to, for example "clear pebbles", "the soft animal of your body" or "the world offers itself to your imagination"? Use what you have chosen as a springboard for your writing. See where it takes you.

2. Where is "your place in the family of things"? Do you feel a connection with nature? Can it answer some of life's current uncertainties?

3. "Meanwhile the world goes on." The wild geese are not despairing; they are heading home, as they always do. What continuity is there in your life at the moment that brings you reassurance?