Rainer Maria Rilke
by Leonid Pasternak
There is in the land
a rising chorus of the Voiceless
Those who while in the system
remain outside of it
They’re the Invisible
Some have simply lost their way
others simply choose invisibility
to cope with this life
We do not see them
because we do not look for them
When we pass them on the street
they do not look up
They are our migrants
the pickers in our fruit orchards
who will not answer us if we ask
for fear of being found
They are our sweepers
the cleaners who scrub our toilets
at the office in the middle of night
disappearing by dawn
They are our Others
of another skin color another faith
from the other side of some border
we do not recognize
Because we are blind
with a blindness of those before us
who never thought they were blind
never wanting to see
Let us open up our eyes
let us turn the tide as a generation
Let’s learn to look for the Invisible
Lend the Voiceless voice
“The rich and the fortunate do well to keep silent,
for no one cares to know who and what they are.
But those in need must reveal themselves
must say: I am blind . . .” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke, The Voices
In 1904, Rilke wrote a short series of poems simply entitled, The Voices. I would like to offer my poet friends on WordPress an invitation to help me put together a collection of poems which we might call ‘The Voices of the Voiceless’ in the spirit of Rilke example. Look out your window. Look out your door. See someone you’ve never seen before. Look into their blindness. Listen to their silence. Let us help give the voiceless a voice. Please send your contribution to me at peternotehelfer@gmail.com or notify me of your post at notehelfer@wordpress.com. Collected sets of the poems will be sent to all the contributors, and our collaborative effort posted on WordPress . . . Blessings!
Peter
Poet's Corner 