After Rilke
In the beginning, your word: Light
And there was time. A long
Absence, then your second: Man
Who brought forth doubt;
Uneasy seed, which sows anxiety
In hearts. Again, you turned away.
Do not speak a third time.
Evening prayers plead: remain
Silent. Figure only in gestures
And shadows, which murmur
Through our dreams. Inscribe
In stones and among stars the
Staggering sum of your silence.
Be a refuge from the fury
Which drove your image
From Eden. Be the sentry
Whose warning cry resounds
In myths of lost inheritance.
