Monday, October 1, 2023
Wendell Berry
Wild Geese
Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer's end. In time 's maze
over the fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise
pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them in their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.