Poems...that moved me this weekend

[shadowkat]

1) 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 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.

[Interesting, various people have told Mary Oliver over the years that this poem has saved their lives.]

2) I Dream on Words by James Kavanguah

I Dream On Words

I dream on words and lick them
And wonder...
How old they are and
Who created them
When they were only grunts and groans?
Sometimes I'd rather grunt
Than talk
Because words belong to someone else.

My grunts are my own,
Lusty in my throat,
Strong in my chest,
Born in my belly.

Sometimes I'd rather scream than sing
Because I write the lyrics
To my screams.

I dream on words and lick htem
And wonder Who created them
When they were only sobs and signs
Of savages too proud
To go to school
And learn how other men talk.

My sobs are my own,
Caught in my throat,
Heaving in my chest,
Aching in my belly.
Sometimes I'd rather weep than sing
Because I write the music
For my tears.

Will you come tonight
And listen
To my symphony
Of grunts and groans and weeping?