“The Peace of Wild Things”
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the lease 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…
Read the rest of the poem here
![By Dcordero7965 at English Wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://readingtothecore.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/blue_heron.jpg?w=445&h=319)
Reading to the Core 
What a lovely choice, and I love the photo of the heron.
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This is one of my all time favorite poems, Catherine. Thanks so much for sharing it.
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I just love this poem, truly one for our times, Catherine. Those last lines…that’s what I’ve been immersing myself in these past weeks at the farm. Looking forward to your visit!
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I hope there’s room for two… and a few. Because methinks there are many who are looking for that tranquil spot – that peace.
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It isn’t exactly a “wild place”, but when I’m outside in my own garden, I do feel this, Catherine. Wendell Berry wrote it right, didn’t he? “I come into the peace of wild things” Thanks, good to have a reminder of this poem.
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Oh, how beautiful! I want to go there!
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Catherine, thank you for this lovely poem. It came at just the right time for me. I am waiting for the still water to surround me.
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.
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The peace of wild things should be the title to my summer notebook. So many wild things. And I feel at peace. Thanks.
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Perfect for these times, Catherine. May more of us human-types learn to “rest in the grace of the world.”
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I love this poem. “The peace of wild things” is something we need to build a reservoir of in order to sustain us.
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A beautiful poem, and a great time to share it. Thank you.
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A favorite! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
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This one never gets old and never goes awry in its message.
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Excellent timing! I experienced some wild things this morning: a bird nesting on my flip flops in the car port, and a teeny tiny black racer (snake) in the driveway. I only shrieked a little. 🙂 But being around these wild things made me think how blessed we are to be alive amid such wonder.
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Ahh…thank you for this. It resonates the same notes as the article I posted on FB: “Remember that self-care is not apathy, and that sensory overload isn’t social justice.”
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Definitely a ‘must read’ for our current daily life. Thank you for sharing. =)
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