Inner fire

You do not have to be good or repent
You only have to love what you desire
The world calls to you like the wild geese

You do not have to walk on your knees bent
You only have to let your heart aspire
You do not have to be good or repent

You do not have to suffer or lament
You only have to feel your inner fire
The world calls to you like the wild geese

You do not have to hide or circumvent
You only have to follow your own wire
You do not have to be good or repent

You do not have to fear or be content
You only have to live with passion and ire
The world calls to you like the wild geese

You do not have to heed what others meant
You only have to claim what you admire
You do not have to be good or repent
The world calls to you like the wild geese

A villanelle and images inspired by Wild Geese by Mary oliver

Mary Oliver was an American poet who was born in 1935 in Maple Heights, Ohio. She had a difficult childhood and found solace in nature and poetry. She was influenced by Edna St. Vincent Millay, whose papers she helped organize when she was young. She won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her poetry, which was inspired by nature and her lifelong passion for solitary walks in the wild. Her poem ‘Wild Geese‘ was published in her 1986 collection Dream Work. It is a poem that encourages the reader to be true to themselves and to connect with the natural world, which offers itself to their imagination. The poem uses simple language and imagery to convey a sense of wonder and belonging. The title refers to the wild geese that call to the reader like a reminder of their place in the family of things.

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