Rainer Maria Rilke - June 7th, Iyengar II & I

Still on a Rilke kick. This piece struck me not only because “Who doesn’t want a Bowl of Roses?”, but the eyelid imagery. BKS Iyengar used to say we should become self-observant enough, sensitive enough, that “every pore of the skin becomes and eye.”

P.S. The Yoga pants I wore today matched this poem - big red rose print.

The Bowl of Roses (II)

Soundless existence ever opening,

filling space while taking it from no one,

diminishing nothing, defined by nothing outside itself,

all coming from within, clothed in softness

and radiant in its own light, even to its outermost edge.

When have we known a thing like this,

like the tender and delicate way

that rose petal touches rose petal?

Or like this: that each petal is an eyelid,

and under it lie other eyelids

closed, as if letting all vision be cradled

in deepening sleep.