{"id":5933,"date":"2017-11-08T07:48:09","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T14:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=5933"},"modified":"2017-11-08T07:53:21","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T14:53:21","slug":"rainer-maria-rilke-i-live-my-life-in-widening-circles-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/08\/rainer-maria-rilke-i-live-my-life-in-widening-circles-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainer Maria Rilke – I live my life in widening circles"},"content":{"rendered":"

I live my life in widening circles
\nby Rainer Maria Rilke<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy<\/font><\/p>\n

I live my life in widening circles
\nthat reach out across the world.
\nI may not ever complete the last one,
\nbut I give myself to it.<\/p>\n

I circle around God, that primordial tower.
\nI have been circling for thousands of years,
\nand I still don\u2019t know: am I a falcon,
\na storm, or a great song?<\/em><\/p>\n


\/ Image by GPS<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I\u2019m back. Not that I went away. I have been busy with my day job and still trying to resolve technical issues with the large poetry mailings. But, amidst all of that, I am pleased to be able to say that I have also been making good progress on the next Poetry Chaikhana anthology. I hope to have something more definite to announce about that soon.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s return to the poetry\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

I live my life in widening circles
\nthat reach out across the world\u2026<\/p>\n

I circle around God, that primordial tower.<\/i><\/p>\n

These images of circles and circling, revolving around a great center he names God, it makes me think of the cathedral labyrinths of Europe. Or the ancient spiral glyphs carved into rocks and cave faces. I see the circling pathway around some secret center. The road can be bewildering, twisting and turning, keeping us disoriented and uncertain of how near we are, but ever moving inward.<\/p>\n

And that courageous line\u2013<\/p>\n

I may not ever complete the last one,
\nbut I give myself to it.<\/i><\/p>\n

We walk the winding path, not out of certainty, but because it is the only path worth walking. Walking that road, quietly, with attention, one foot in front of the other, becomes meditation. It becomes worship. Each ring, whether near or far, is a layer of our lives that is blessed by our passing through it.<\/p>\n

Walking the circling path is not only the way to the center, it is actually part of the center. We learn to participate in the center by first walking the path. Obsession with the destination becomes an impediment to reaching it. Instead, by patiently inhabiting each step, we discover the center in ourselves\u2026 and our feet naturally end up there, as well.<\/p>\n

We walk with our whole selves\u2013<\/p>\n

and I still don\u2019t know: am I a falcon,
\na storm, or a great song?<\/i><\/p>\n

On this roundabout road to God, we question our own nature. We encounter the mystery of self. Who and what are we really? Ultimately, it is in that questioning of a self that eludes definition where we find the still center.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Rainer Maria Rilke<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nAhead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Soul is Here for its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many Cultures<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nRilke\u2019s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nIn Praise of Mortality: Rilke\u2019s Duino Elegies & Sonnets to Orpheus<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Rainer<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nRainer Maria Rilke<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Germany (1875 \u2013 1926) Timeline<\/a>
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

More poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I live my life in widening circles by Rainer Maria Rilke English version by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not ever complete the last one, but I give myself to it. I circle around God, that primordial tower. I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1671,1133,70,69],"class_list":["post-5933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-circles","tag-labyrinth","tag-rainer-maria-rilke","tag-rilke"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5933"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5937,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5933\/revisions\/5937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}