Autumn Day
Lord: it is time. The summer was immense.
Stretch out your shadow on the sundial’s face,
and on the meadows let the winds go loose.
Command the last fruits to be full in time;
grant them even two more southerly days,
press them toward fulfillment soon and chase
the last sweetness into the heavy wine.
Whoever has no house now, will build none.
Who is alone now, will stay long alone,
will lie awake, read, get long letters written,
and through the streets that follow up and down
will wander restless, when the leaves are driven.
—Rainer Maria Rilke (trans. from the German by John Felstiner)
Last night I was driving home from the movie theater and realized that the air was finally cool and the leaves were finally turning. The sense of relief I felt reminded me of this Rilke poem that I’d encountered over the summer: “Lord: it is time. The summer was immense.” I’m ready to lie awake reading and writing. Let fall come.
-R
