100 Day Project Three – Day 2

DAY 2 (January 7th, 2018)

LIFE IS BUT A SHADOW

If life is but a shadow,
then a dream is a shadow’s shadow,
and more is revealed of a thing in shadows
than in a hall of heralds’ trumpets.

For you must have eyes
to see without them,
and ears like a frightened fox,
before the din of this world is muted—
you must be what you are before
what you’re not you may become.


from the BOOK OF HOURS

What will you do, God, when I die?
When I, your pitcher, broken, lie?
When I, your drink, go stale or dry?
I am your garb, the trade you ply,
you lose your meaning, losing me.

Homeless without me, you will be
robbed of your welcome, warm and sweet.
I am your sandals: your tired feet
will wander bare for want of me.

Your mighty cloak will fall away.
Your glance that on my cheek was laid
and pillowed warm, will seek, dismayed,
the comforts that I offered once —
to lie, as sunset colors fade
in the cold lap of alien stones.

What will you do, God? I am afraid.

— Rainer Maria Rilke

Book of Hours
Book of Hours – Translated from the German by Babette Deutsch

You may buy this book here: https://www.amazon.com/Poems-Hours-Rainer-Maria-Rilke/dp/0811226689


The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project

The 100 Day Project is a creativity excavation. It’s about unearthing dormant or unrealized creativity by committing to a daily practice everyday for 100 days.
Creativity is a skill. The more we practice, the more skilled we become. Practice takes time. Practice takes commitment. Practice is a radical act in this speeded up world. Through practice, we develop a creative habit. Through habit, we reconnect with and know ourselves again as a creative being.

I started this, my third, 100 Day Project on January 6th. My project is to write at least one first-draft stanza inspired by a poem, a quote, an idea, a painting—anything really. I’ll post the results at www.bradseverance.com/category/100-day-project-number-three/

Enjoy!

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