Friday, October 08, 2010

the peace of wild things

I've never been a nature girl, but there are times when being outside, in "the peace of wild things" as poet Wendell Berry puts it, is exactly what the soul needs. 

Last night, our little family took a walk down to a river close to our house, and just hearing the crackle of leaves, the sound of each child's voice combined with the scent of Autumn was simply delicious.  I had to find this poem and share it....

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron
feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief.  I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light.  For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

"The Peace of Wild Things"
by Wendell Berry

1 comment:

angie said...

Love the poetry.....thank you!