i'm an animal

After hearing Mary Oliver speak at the Lied Center tonight, the words of Neko Case are ringing even louder in my ears. Acknowledgment of basic instinct, heightened by human soul and longing. Plus some simplicity and humor. Here's the song by Neko Case, and a poem that echoes it.

---

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.

---

Favorite quote from the night:

What is, in your mind, the perfect day?

A little work...a little love...and a good lunch.