Wendell Berry

I took a walk this morning along Clauverwie Rd in Middleburgh—a cool, breezy day with the sun intermittently blinking through an overcast sky. I thought—what a privilege and joy to be alive! Enjoy your day!

Here’s a poem for your consideration by Wendell Berry (born August 5, 1934), American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer.

The Peace of Wild Things

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.

― Wendell Berry