Poetry

I love to read, but poetry is not one of my genres. I've never really contemplated why until now.

I like poetry when it is read to me. I enjoy the phrasing and the cadence of the person reading. The words then speak to me. And if I am so inspired to read the words, again, they do not resonant for me with the same energy.

I just enjoy the spoken poetic word.

I'm not too familiar with Rilke, but I thoroughly enjoyed his work read by Joanna Macy on On Being.

Perhaps she will precipitate a change in my reading habits.

Here is one of my favorites -

Widening Circles - by Rainer Maria Rilke

I live my life in widening circles

that reach out across the world.

I may not complete this last one

but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.

I've been circling for thousands of years

and I still don't know: am I a falcon,

a storm, or a great song?

And then there is this line from a letter to Countess Margot Sizzo-Noris-Crouty on January 23, 1924

The great secret of death, and perhaps its deepest connection with us, is this: that, in taking from us a being we have loved and venerated, death does not wound us without, as the same time, lifting us toward a more perfect understanding of this being and of ourselves.

All said so beautifully.

May you enjoy a little Rilke today.

Namaste.