5 toward the Omer

hod shebchesed
after Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese”

“You do not have to”—

like the harder choice is
the hundred miles of desert

rather than letting fall away
all else other than only

maybe it takes it happening
to understand where love livens

maybe then the humble body
will rest and be free

You’re still not getting her,
God says. Just pluck out

the thing you want to
keep. Don’t waste any more

on wading through the scraps.
Act like she wrote, like

every day is Shabbos, chosen
before anything else ever existed.

Nice, I say. I thought
so too, God says. No,

I say, I mean it’s
nice to see you again.