i also wish i could write poetry

i have too much appreciation for good art to attempt to write my own poetry. my rhythms and rhymes are only appropriate for cheesy greeting cards and children's books.

but i read it. some. one of my favorite poets is Rainer Maria Rilke, and the past couple of days i've read again from his Book of Hours (translated from the German by Barrows and Macy). i think this one is my favorite:

You see, I want a lot.
Maybe I want it all:
the darkness of each endless fall,
the shimmering light of each ascent.

So many are alive who don't seem to care.
Casual, easy, they move through the world
as though untouched.

But you take pleasure in the faces
of those who know they thirst.
You cherish those
who grip you for survival.

You are not dead yet, it's not too late
to open your depths by plunging into them
and drink in the life
that reveals itself quietly there.



i read his introspective first stanza, and something in me dares to whisper "me too." my longing is stirred for really living in the heights and depths and the path between them...

i read the second stanza - his observation of the world through the lens of his introspective discovery, and i shudder. i wonder if it is me he has seen. i wonder if i am brave enough to care that i am alive - to be moved by the darkness of each endless fall and the shimmering light of each ascent...

i read the third stanza, and i think i'm listening to a prayerful "aside." i think the "you" here is the Lord, and i think it's true - i think He cherishes those who grip him for survival. these four lines call to mind the heart of the Beatitudes...

then i read the last stanza, and it's like Rilke is shaking me by the shoulders and speaking with gentle urgency. "Wake up!" he says. fight the numbing effects of small pleasures and constant noise and live!

when i read this poem, i think if i'll brave the introspection Rilke points to, i'll rediscover my thirst. through my thirst, i'll move nearer the Living Water. in Him, i'll find undiluted Life, and be moved to invite others on that same journey.

you see, i want a lot...