Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Feast of SS Veronika and Speratos the Martyrs
Anno Domini 2020, July 17
The Great Lavra Bell Tower (to the left of the Refectory Church), also known as the Great Belfry, is the main bell tower of the ancient cave monastery of Kiev Perchersk Lavra in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
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,
Ssy to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.
*From Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29. Translated by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows.
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