When the seconds . . . (Wenn die Uhren so nah)

When the seconds pass as closely as
within the beating of this very heart
and the things about us plead
in timid voices,
are you there?

Then I am not the one who woke this morning,
with the names the night had given me,
nor am I he of whom I've told the day
in fear and anxiety -

Every door
is open to me still . . .

And then I know that nothing's lost,
no gesture and no prayer
(which would be all too difficult)
but all my childhood has stood,
ever, all around me here.
Never am I alone.
The many who have loved me
and these same many far away
are woven,
woven
into my own - I am.

And I sit down beside you here
and say to you softly - I hurt -
Do you hear?

Then the one who knows who
whispers too.


Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)
Translated from the German by Kevin O'Donnell (2011)