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6 Sep: "The Peace of Wild Things" by Wendell Berry

When despair 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 for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

1 comment:

  1. The peace of wild things... usually wild and peace would not be used together. But calling these animals, like the heron (also a great symbol), wild says a lot about how we live. These griefless, tax free, graceful, peaceful, and free animals are the narrator strives to be when he/she is in despair.

    This reminds me of my dad, who for whatever reason says he worries about me the most. He should go find a place where the drakes rests or herons feed.

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