when I discovered the letters
of Rilke
I found that his spirit
his bashful merit
allowed me
to express freely

this man was engaged in love
wanting nothing from above
taking his solitude
with gratitude
and passing on his humble wisdom
to someone he'd never met
and yet
he gave it
like a gift to his mother
knowing that all
and every other
were just as worthy
of the glory
of love

he wrote like a poet
without danger
to a stranger
with phrases like:

"Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

he wrote this to a young man
somebody he did not know
a boy who asked a question
searching the simple lesson
of how to turn his words
into meaning

And Rilke replied
without needing
anything back
this man had no lack
of giving...