The Peace Of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry

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 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.

This poem was taken from a book called This Place I Know, which is a book of selected poems by Georgia Heard.

Where do we go to seek comfort when we’re sad , or angry, or afraid ? As this very special collection demonstrates, even in our darkest hour, we can find solace-in places or people, and even in pictures and poems.

In memory of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, eighteen renowned picture book artists have each illustrated a poem by such esteemed poets as Wendell Berry, Gwendolyn Brooks, Emily Dickinson, Lillian Morrison, and Walt Whitman. These words and images of grief, comfort, and hope are for all of us, at any time, as we endeavor to find our way-and our place-in this world.

Georgia Heard

Georgia Heard is an internationally known writer, keynote speaker and educational consultant. Thousands of educators and writers have listened to Ms. Heard speak of her passion for poetry and writing. She has keynoted hundreds of conferences and given workshops on writing throughout the United States as well as in Sweden, Canada, and Southeast Asia and she has brought her love of writing to classrooms throughout the United States.

Ms Heard is the author of several books on teaching poetry and writing including her most recent title, The Revision Toolbox: Teaching Techniques That Work (Heinemann, 2002), the popular Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School (Heinemann, 1998), an inspirational and practical book for educators on how to engender a love of poetry among students, Writing Towards Home: Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way (Heinemann, 1995) and For the Good of the Earth and Sun: Teaching Poetry (Heinemann, 1987). She is also the author of three children’s poetry books, Creatures of Earth, Sea, and Sky (Boyds Mill Press, 1995), a collection about animals, Songs of Myself: An Anthology of Poetry and Art (Mondo, 2000), and This Place I Know: Poems of Comfort (Candlewick Press, 2002).

Ms. Heard’s work has appeared in numerous magazines and professional journals and she has been interviewed on National Public Radio’s “Perspectives.” For seven years Ms. Heard worked with New York City Teachers as part of the Teachers College Writing Project. She finished graduate work at Columbia University and while there was honored by the Academy of American Poets.