{"id":2375,"date":"2017-08-23T00:00:42","date_gmt":"2017-08-23T04:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2375"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:46:49","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:46:49","slug":"aug-23-mary-oliver-wild-geese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/08\/23\/aug-23-mary-oliver-wild-geese\/","title":{"rendered":"Aug 23 &#8211;  Mary Oliver  &#8220;Wild Geese&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wednesday, August 23<\/p>\n<p>How many times might someone learn the vast depths of one\u2019s soul? \u00a0&#8211; &#8211; \u00a0Resilient, brave, playful, patient, accessible. \u00a0 Maybe I should write \u201cre-learn\u201d rather than \u201clearn.\u201d \u00a0In these very early days of a new academic year, I love looking at new students walking around campus, learning where the toilets are, \u00a0and classrooms, and places to get coffee, and quiet spaces in the library, and the university\u2019s place in the big city. \u00a0 New students begin to learn that they will be up to the challenges, even though early term sticker shock, the magnitude of their semester\u2019s requirements make that confidence seem laughable (in hard anxious moments).<\/p>\n<p>If you work with new students, you might give them a copy of today\u2019s poem. \u00a0Remind them please: \u00a0\u201cbest to read a \u00a0strong poem out loud, with pauses, and more than once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Have a blest mid-week day.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>john sj<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Today\u2019s Post \u00a0\u201cWild Geese\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2015\/10\/geese.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1574\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2015\/10\/geese.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"327\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2015\/10\/geese.jpg 350w, https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2015\/10\/geese-300x280.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You do not have to be good.<br \/>\nYou do not have to walk on your knees<br \/>\nfor a hundred miles through the desert repenting.<br \/>\nYou only have to let the soft animal of your body<br \/>\nlove what it loves.<br \/>\nTell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.<br \/>\nMeanwhile the world goes on.<br \/>\nMeanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain<br \/>\nare moving across the landscapes,<br \/>\nover the prairies and the deep trees,<br \/>\nthe mountains and the rivers.<br \/>\nMeanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,<br \/>\nare heading home again.<br \/>\nWhoever you are, no matter how lonely,<br \/>\nthe world offers itself to your imagination,<br \/>\ncalls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting \u2013<br \/>\nover and over announcing your place<br \/>\nin the family of things.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2015\/01\/Mary-Oliver.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1123\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/170\/2015\/01\/Mary-Oliver.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"98\" height=\"121\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>mary oliver september 10, 1935<br \/>\nnational book award 1992<br \/>\npulitzer prize 1984<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wednesday, August 23 How many times might someone learn the vast depths of one\u2019s soul? \u00a0&#8211; &#8211; \u00a0Resilient, brave, playful, patient, accessible. \u00a0 Maybe I should write \u201cre-learn\u201d rather than \u201clearn.\u201d \u00a0In these very early days of a new academic &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2017\/08\/23\/aug-23-mary-oliver-wild-geese\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2376,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375\/revisions\/2376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}