You See, I Want A Lot

Rainer Maria Rilke
from The Book of the Hours

You see, I want a lot.
Perhaps I want everything:
the darkness that comes with every infinite fall
and the shivering blaze of every step up.

So many live on and want nothing
And are raised to the rank of prince
By the slippery ease of their light judgments.

But what you love to see are faces
that do work and feel thirst.

You love most of all those who need you
as they need a crowbar or a hoe.

You have not grown old, and it is not too late
To dive into your increasing depths

where life calmly gives out its own secret.

You See, I Want A Lot, from The Book of the Hours