I am reading Duino Elegies finally. Here's another heavily inspired Rilke poem.
On soft nights
When my own scent
Rises to my senses
I want to know:
Who can fulfill such longing?
Is this tender tug in my core
Somehow true love?
Pure and objectless,
Is it the only love I can bear?
They say He does not exist.
If he did, could I bear it?
Could I love him like a color
Soon to be sacrificed for another;
Drawn over and erased
For the whole good of beauty,
Nothing precious?
Maybe He is all of us.
The burden must be learned
Or abandoned for distraction.
Distraction like this pen
Pressing against the paper
And the lavender
And the whiskey
And blankets
And buses
And song.
They say He does not exist.
But they are wrong.
If they stayed with this knot,
Felt inside of it
And quietly exhaled,
They would slightly sense
His ghost escaping their lungs
And love such a pain
As a woman bears a child.
