Originally posted 5/17/2009.
Ein Jeder Engel Ist Schrecklich (Every angel is terrifying). — Rilke
Close a door, open a door,
write a letter, burn a letter:
endings are as easy as beginnings
when there’s little potency attached.
What makes it hard to end or begin
is the Angel of Possibility who hovers
on the margin of each decision.
I know much of her scarred wings
and fruit-toned breath. Each time
I have flown with her
I have been scared of the height
from which I might fall;
tonight she floats
at the edge of vision,
near the door, beckoning to me
as I pray for my feet
to remain on the ground —
yet she is an Angel,
after all, and I begin
to rise, attended by
all the terror
I can bear.
Dark Matter 
May 2nd, 2015 at 8:56 am
I love Rilke’s Duino Elegies. Nice quote.
May 3rd, 2015 at 6:40 am
Me too, obviously. Seriously — I always think of them as my just-beyond-my-reach benchmark for what I’d like to do.