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, Wild Geese
Dear friends,
Our friend from Ukraine made the dinner tonight and afterwards I sat at the piano and attempted to play a few songs. I haven’t played or sung for many months but I remembered playing when our friends had only just arrived in August 2022 and thought they might like me to play again.
I have eclectic taste, am out of practise and croaky of voice but Little P danced and artistically wafted a throw from the sofa. And her mum came in from the kitchen to sit and listen.
My rendition of Jewel’s ‘Hands’ wasn’t very good and I’m sure they didn’t catch the words but I was touched as I croaked out ‘if I could tell the world just one thing, it would be, we’re all okay’ and ‘only kindness matters’ while P danced and laughed and her mum sat in relative peace.
The world, of course, is far from okay. But for a few moments, we are. And it’s okay to be grateful that we are okay.
We can light a candle and curse the darkness.*
I’m off now to make some flapjack.
With love,
Deb
*