Darkness

i’m smitten by the night.

something about darkness comforts me

perhaps some kind of primitive harkening

back to the womb

enveloped, safe, cushioned somehow

from the intense scrutiny of daylight

hidden

separated from its harsh intrusion

that lays us bare and strips us naked

shortly after i had written this, i ran across this poem.  thinking that we are on the same page.

you darkness from which i come,

i love you more than all the fires

that fence out the world,

for the fire makes a circle

for everyone

so that no one sees you anymore.

but darkness holds it all:

the shape and the flame,

the animals and myself,

how it holds them,

all powers, all sight –

and it is possible: its great strength

is breaking into my body.

i have faith in the night.

rainer maria rilke (translated by david whyte)