Ranier Maria Rilke
a poet&writer was he
Many a letter he also wrote
useful if you require a quote
‘Here among the vanishing ones, in the realm of decline’
body parts of ghosts remain to haunt each other.
Morning is taken with just a slice of lemon
the tears of the lost milk the cup.
The older the bones get the more ghosts are crowded
into an abandoned house.
We who are left make supper early,
go to the bird table at dusk,
feed the failing sun, remember to honor
the past as if it were only yesterday.
The Master of Nuances
Supreme literary intensity
Rainer Maria Rilke—
Inspired as Orpheus sings
Predilection for Die Dinge
A mastery of true nuances
A thirst for poetic symbols
He sings now with Orpheus
And the angels in Heaven.
Gary Bateman, Copyright © All Rights Reserved
December 5, 2016 (Verse)
Autumn Day
by Rainer Maria Rilke
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Lord, it is time. Let the immense summer go.
Lay your long shadows over the sundials
and over the meadows, let the free winds blow.
Command the late fruits to fatten and shine;
O, grant them another Mediterranean hour!
Urge them to completion, and with power
convey final sweetness to the heavy wine.
Who has no house now, never will build one.
Who's alone now, shall continue alone;
he'll wake, read, write long letters to friends,
and pace the tree-lined pathways up and down,
restlessly, as autumn leaves drift and descend.
Originally published by Measure
Doth if not thrill thee, Poet,
Dead and dust though thy art,
To feel how I press thy singing
Close to my heart?
By Richard Le Gallienne
(The Passionate Reader To His Poet)
Rilke,
Gathering thunderstorms.
Unlike you or me.
So deep and hard into that muck
Where the tears dry,
He keeps his hand strong.
And you and me,
On that perilous corner,
Choking on powdered asphalt and
Dreams in the smoke,
And we're all teetering.
And me and him and you,
And all the angels of material,
Keep calling.
Calling his name
of green gardens.
You wind your will around me
spun and sugar coated stiff
to engulf and winterize me
with the words upon my lips
I'm quiet in cacophony
inside your sugared wish
as the stories you have woven
sink their soul into my hips
I listen to the printed page
as if you whisper in my ear
the silent yearnings of your heart
Coated sugar, crystal clear
You mesmerize me with your voice
from the land where you hold your pen
These words are the best laid, sweetened thoughts
in the ears of poetic men.
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