Tag Archives: Rilke
The Angel ~ Rilke
The Angel
With a slight tilt of his forehead he rejects
everything that hems in and obliges;
for the wide circles of the eternal Coming
move hugely erected through his heart.
The deep heavens stand before him full of shapes,
and each may call to him: … Continue reading
FollowSometimes a Man ~ Rilke
Sometimes a man stands up during supper
and walks outdoors, and keeps on walking,
because of a church that stands somewhere in the East.
And his children say blessings on him as if he were dead.
And another man, who remains inside his own … Continue reading
Healthcare: The Machine
The Machine
The Machine endangers all we have made.
We allow it to rule instead of obey.
To build the house, cut the stone sharp and fast:
the carver’s hand takes too long to feel its way.
The Machine never hesitates or we might escape
and … Continue reading
The Knight ~ Rilke
The knight rides forth in coal-black steel
into the teeming world.
Outside his armor everything is there: sunlight and valley,
friend and foe and feast,
May, maiden, forest and grail,
and God himself in a thousand forms to be found along every road.
But inside the … Continue reading
The Swan ~ Rilke
This laboring of ours with all that remains undone,
as if still bound to it,
is like the lumbering gait of the swan.
And then our dying — releasing ourselves
from the very ground on which we stood –
is like the way he … Continue reading
Earth, Isn’t This What You Want ~ Rilke
Earth, isn’t this what you want? To arise in us, invisible?
Is it not your dream, to enter us so wholly
there’s nothing left outside us to see?
What, if not transformation,
is your deepest purpose? Earth, my love,
I want it too. Believe … Continue reading
Give Birth to Your Images ~ Rilke
You must give birth
to your images
they are the future within you
wanting to be born.
Fear not the strangeness that you feel
The future has to enter us
long before it happens.
~ Rainer Marie Rilke
Love the Solitude ~ Rilke
Much that may one day be possible can already be prepared by the solitary individual, and built with his own hands which make fewer mistakes. Therefore love your solitude and bear the pain of it without self-pity. The distance you … Continue reading
Knots of Our Own Making
How surely gravity’s law,
strong as an ocean current,
takes hold of even the smallest thing
and pulls it toward the heart of the world.
Each thing –
each stone, blossom, child –
is held in place.
Only we, in our arrogance,
push out beyond what we each … Continue reading