Every angel is falling—not like a skydiver
rushing toward reunion
but like a fish leaping above the calm surface of a lake,
entering a new universe of knives & eyelids.
Imagine being born at the height of your powers.
One rainfall & your chalk outline
disappears from the curb.
One hurricane and half the population
of your migratory species
vanishes over the Atlantic.
I don’t believe in angels, but I believe in their falling,
their helplessness against evil.
Nobody is watching over us except
for the blessed satellites, most of which
are in stable orbits.
We point our dishes at the farthest stars,
searching for any crumb of meaning.
Who but the most downwardly mobile,
undocumented aliens
would turn unjaded ears toward the earth?
__________
The first line is of course a riff on the opening of Rilke’s second Duino Elegy, “Every angel is terrifying.”
Amazing images and words, Dave.
Thanks, Marja-Leena.
Oh my — you get better and better, Dave. This one is chilling. Wonderful lines here:
Hey, glad you liked that, Sherry.
These are excellent, and I love the puddles of ice in the photographs…
Thanks! It was interesting the way the photos not only prompted specific images, but also allowed bigger shifts between thoughts and stanzas than I otherwise could’ve gotten away with, I think.
Thoroughly liked! Rilke was a good starting place for you.
And the accompanying images as well…
Thanks, Marly. I tried and failed to come up with a more interesting title, but what the heck.
Perhaps you will have a visitation from the Title Angel… Talk to you anon: I am off to wrestling land!
Hi David– very beautiful– I’ve written a few Rilke variations, posted at my blog– people seem to like them. xxj http://parolavivace.blogspot.com
Wow — those are great poems! Thanks for stopping by.
Great pictures, Dave. Specially liked your last three lines about downwardly mobile aliens curious about us earthlings. Bravo.
Thanks, Albert. I don’t know that those were specifically space aliens, but they could be! Certainly for many people, space aliens have taken the place that angels or demons once occupied in the collective imagination.
Whew! Excellent. Words and photos.
Thanks, Bev!
“In Search of Meanings” is a response to “After Rilke” posted in http://ambitsgambit.blogspot.com/2012/01/in-search-of-meanings.html