Revised. Original post, 2007.
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.
Her scarred wings, her 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.
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 
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