Art to the Poetry of Rilke: Let The Darkness Flow

Let The Darkness Flow, acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, triptych (4 x 4 each)

Quiet friend who has come so far,

feel how your breathing makes more space around you.

Let this darkness be a bell tower

and you the bell. As you ring,

what batters you becomes your strength.

Move back and forth into the change.

What is it like, such intensity of pain?

If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.

In this uncontainable night,

be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,

the meaning discovered there.

And if the world has ceased to hear you,

say to the silent earth: I flow.

To the rushing water, speak: I am.

Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29

"Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower" by Rainer Maria Rilke, as translated by Joanna Macy

I heard this during the OnBeing podcast with Joanna Macy during my outdoor trek this morning. The art piece I had created just yesterday - the triptych that appears above - immediately came to mind.

There is something about the darkness that calls to me - that calls to all of us, if we are brave enough to listen. 

Dear quiet friend, may I hear your ringing and you, mine, as we flow through our days.

Namaste.