Pacing

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“There is a human wildness held beneath the skin
that finds all barriers brutishly unbearable.”

– Jim Harrison

 

“Nur manchmal schiebt der Vorhang der Pupille
sich lautlos auf—.  Dann geht ein Bild hinein,
geht durch der Glieder angespannte Stille—
und hört im Herzen auf zu sein.”

– Rainer Maria Rilke, Der Panther

 

 

You were not made,
it so obviously displayed
itself to us, to be caged
in an office –
a cubicle.
The routine dulled
and also drove you
to the edge of the chasm.

I remember lunching
with you; we went
as a gang to the place
on 5^th.  You were last
into the booth, laughed
and seemed freed.
But after the meal
you reclined…
your eyes became
pale like the fish
on ice at the open market.

What reality did you see
then?

Two days later
you bolted;
no notice.

Now, of course
with technology,
we work from home,
from a park,
along the river,
at the edge of the roof
of our apartment buildings.

But it wasn’t the space
that made the cage,
was it?

 

* * *

This is Day 26 of Jilly’s “Days of Unreason.”  I want to thank Jilly for originating this challenge two years ago!  Jim Harrison’s poetry is not for everybody — it’s for those who see the poetic in the natural world, in the trials of life, and at the edge of insanity.  I have grown as a writer and a poet through my interaction with these prompts.  Thank you, Miss Jill!

The quote from Rilke is in the original German.  I encourage you to take the time to read the many English translations of The Panther that are out there.  And then I encourage you to read Rilke!

“We all know that Art is not truth.
Art is a lie that makes us realize truth,
at least the truth that is given us to understand.
The artist must know the manner whereby
to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.”

― Pablo Picasso