My thoughts on Wild Geese

“You do not have to be good,

You do not have to walk on your knees

For a thousand miles through the desert, repenting.”

From the very first line, the poet had me enraptured by her train of thought. I instantly connected with her. Here was finally a poem which does not tell you what to do and what not to. Rather, it lets you be who you are, to love what you love.

Oliver, in a way, tells us we have the right to live. To live without the fear of judgment, to live without the constant feeling of inferiority, to live and embrace the wonder, that is life. Everyone feels the pangs of depression, of loneliness, of not being able to “fit in”. These phases are only temporary. It's okay to feel sad, to express your emotions. One need not do what is expected of her, need not please everyone, every time. You can live life in your own terms.You may be different, but you are still human. You might feel out of place, but you are not the only one who does. 

In next few lines, poem’s horizon is widened, to include the infinite beauties of life.

“Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

Are moving across the landscape,

Over the prairies and the deep trees,

The mountains and the rivers”.

The poet immediately expands our bubble of thought, and implicitly, makes us aware of the presence of others around us. She seems to tell us we are only a tiny, yet significant part, of this big world. Difficulties and troubles are not unique to just you, it's what everyone goes through.

Oliver makes a direct comparison of humans to the wild geese.The geese seem to represent the unity of mankind. No matter how different we are, how ‘weird’ we are,  in the end, the world will accept us. We just need to let go of all the guilt, regret, and live free. We need to accept ourselves, and everything else will eventually fall into it's place. 

.The dusk is followed by dawn, and a smile is followed by a frown. Life, after all , is a roller-coaster of emotions And that's the beauty of it.

-Anusha Bhat