for Rainer Maria Rilke
in childhood legend he swallowed an orchard of birds
and was not the same afterwards. this was in dream.
restless, about to fly at any sudden motion
uncomfortable here among us
in the parlours with imperious horsehair sofas and the
rattling teacups
but at night o night
with its crystal pinholes
the orchard awoke inside
the birds all trable and transmitting
from soul to soul an unaccountable music
he accounted for
far into the nebulae streaming
and everywhere word
was a bird impearled
and weeping how far and distant
gleams the inner world
you cannot find.
mary angela douglas 10 june 2023
No comments:
Post a Comment