First Day

Read the poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver out loud, or have someone read it to you:

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

This poem needs to be read six times through, out loud, with silences between readings (lasting about a minute). Then follow the next set of assignments, with readings of the poem and silences in between writing and reading.

Jot down the one line that stands out for you. Reflect on that line a) in words (for about five minutes). Now reflect on that line with a drawn image (for about five minutes).

Take a few minutes to write about the ideas and issues that this reading of the poem raised for you.

Make connections between what you’ve just written and your reasons for being here.

How do you relate to silence in your life?