Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver
A selection of Oliver's poems named for her most famous: 'You do not have to be good.' The poems attend to the natural world with precision and arrive at consolation without sentimentality. They are the most prescribed poems in modern self-help for a reason.
Read it if…
you want poems that console and instruct without preaching.
Skip it if…
you want complexity; Oliver is clear by design.
Three things you will actually use
- You do not have to be good; you have to pay attention.
- Attention is devotion.
- Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Do this first
Read 'Wild Geese' and 'The Summer Day' and answer the question the second one asks.
Our verdict
Consoling and clear.
Compare with other Mindset books
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