You, darkness, of whom I am born
I love you more than the flame
that limits the world
to the circle it illuminates
and excludes all the rest.
But the darkness holds everything
shapes and shadows
creatures and forces
it is the womb
that brings forth worlds.
Rainer Maria Rilke (From his Book of Hours, public domain)
Rilke reminds us that darkness is not the enemy we imagine it to be. We fear what we cannot see, yet he shows that the unseen holds a deeper truth than the light ever could. The flame makes us feel safe, but it also confines us to what is already known. Darkness asks us to trust what we do not understand yet.
There are moments in life when clarity disappears and all that remains is the quiet unknown. Instead of resisting it, Rilke invites us to enter it. The darkness is not a void. It is a beginning. It is the place where new worlds are formed, where possibility grows quietly before it becomes visible.
Sometimes losing the light is not loss. It is the first step toward discovering who we are when nothing is certain.
