"Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver

1) Poem:

Wild Geese

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.
--Mary Oliver  

3) Analysis: 

     A) Paraphrase:You do not have to spend your life regretting the past and asking for forgiveness for living, instead do what you love to do. Despite your despair, the world still goes on. No matter who you are, the world is yours for the taking and it calls to you, both exciting and scary at the same time.

    B) Theme: This poem is about finding one's place in the world and accepting life for what it is. The speaker is saying that we as people should not spend our whole life repenting for living our lives. The message is to embrace life as well as nature and to do whatever makes you happy in life, rather than focusing on mistakes. The speaker goes on to elaborate on this point to say that the world is calling to us, comparing this to the call of wild geese. Though life can be "harsh", it can also be "exciting" and people should go out and live life to the fullest.

4) Personal Connection: The first thing that made actually stop and pick out this poem to read from the countless online was the title, "Wild Geese". Growing up, and even now I love watching geese fly by in their v-formation and honking. I always marveled and wondered how they could possibly keep that formation so effortlessly. Watching geese is always a moment that makes me feel closer to nature and helps me to stop and realize its true beauty. Looking back at what I just wrote, I realize it has barely anything to do with the content of the poem but it is truthfully what drew me to this poem. After I read the poem, it instantly became a favorite. I love its message of living life to the fullest and not dwelling on mistakes. I connect to this be cause dwelling on the past is something I do often and this poem serves as a reminder that past is past and that we should enjoy the life ahead.