Wild Geese

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.

I took these photos last Sunday, walking by a frozen lake, in the late afternoon half-light with M and the dogs. Whilst uploading them this poem came to mind, that I had read in an anthology some time ago and all but forgotten. It is a little melancholy perhaps, but I think there is beauty in it, and hope too, and it just seemed to fit.

Christmas

Glowing lights

St Christopher's Place

Santa

"a rather bling but strangely sad looking Santa..."

Christmas morning muffins

I will be making these tomorrow morning. Recipe here if you want to try it, photograph from last year.

Merry Christmas

The tree is decorated with coloured baubles, glowing lights and tiny glass stars, the presents are wrapped in newspaper (not to be Scrooge-like, but both cheap and eco-friendly) and swathed in ribbon (which will be recycled!), and the house is full of food and drink. I am signing off now for a couple of days (but have scheduled a few Christmas-themed photo posts) to eat clementines and gold coins a-plenty, peel a mountain of potatoes and parsnips, and, most importantly, spend time with loved ones. All that remains is to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, hope it is full of joy and wonder (and many a mince pie).

Merry Christmas!