Another favorite poem...

This one comes from Rainer Maria Rilke's Book of Hours:

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,

then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,

go to the limits of your longing.

Embody me.

Flare up like flame

and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you:  beauty and terror.

Just keep going. No feeling is final.

Don't let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.

You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

Isn't that amazing? 

There are other of his poems that I like equally well; I had a hard time limiting myself to just one.  

But then, I love Rilke. 

Especially his book Letters to a Young Poet.  It's one of my favorite reads; one those timeless books that I find myself returning to year after year. And it never gets old. At least not for me. But then, like I said, I love Rilke.

Happy Reading!