I am alone in the world, and yet not alone

enough

to make each hour holy.

I am lowly in this world, and yet not lowly

enough

for me just to be a thing to you,

dark and shrewd.

I want my will and I want to go with my will

as it moves towards action.

And I want, in those silent,

somehow faltering times,

to be with someone who knows,

or else alone.

I want to reflect everything about you,

and I never want to be too blind or too ancient

to keep your profound wavering image with me.

I want to unfold.

I don’t want to be folded anywhere,

because there,

where I’m folded,

I am a lie.

—Rainer Maria Rilke