July 9, 2011

The Island (III)

Bridge of Maincy, by Paul Cézanne

Only what is within you is near; all else is far.
And this within: so packed and pressured,
barely contained, unsayable.
The island could be a star so insignificant

that space in its terrible blindness takes no note
and mindlessly destroys it.
Thus, unillumined and unheard,
expecting nothing

but that all this may yet come to an end,
it continues doggedly its self-invented course,
alone, outside the patterns made
by planets and the suns they orbit.

New Poems

5 comments:

  1. So, what is within me, near, is also far, for you. A most uncannny observation of the human condition, well worth considerable rumination.

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  2. in my cosmology there is no otherness when i leave behind the body, the personality. no space between. there is no space.
    when i return to my body and my mind, there's distinction. otherness defines me as much as i define it.
    moving from an entirety to aloneness.
    the painting holds me very close. steven

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  3. Oh how I identify with those opening lines: ". . . what is within you is near; all else is far. And this within: so packed and pressured, barely contained, unsayable." This is the heart of the artist, not just Rilke, all true artists.

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  4. After spending a few days browsing your wonderful blog, I'm going to add the "Island" series to my blog...and twitter broadcast to thousands. Your blog is a gem, I'm going to suggest it to everyone!

    Thomas Herr

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  5. Thanks, Thomas. Quite truthfully, all credit should go to Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy, translators of these poems and editors of the book referenced on the sidebar. Nice to see you here.

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"Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night."

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Go ahead, bloom recklessly!