Guardians of Solitude - Rilke

The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality
by tearing down all boundaries;
on the contrary,
a good marriage is one in which
each partner appoints the other
as guardian of his [her] solitude,
and thus they show each other
the greatest possible trust.

A merging of two people is an impossibility,
and where it seems to exist,
it is a hemming-in,
a mutual consent that robs
one party or both parties
of their fullest freedom and development.

But once the realization is accepted
that even between the closest people
infinite distances exist,
a marvelous living side-by-side
can grow up for them,
if they succeed in
loving the expanse between them,
which gives them the possibility
of always seeing each other
as a whole...

Rainer Maria Rilke
"Letter to a Young Poet"

~

Happy Birthday "B"!!
Always walking side-by-side with you  :)

Happy Love Day to all my blog readers!

~

Photo from the internet

35 Years...

Two Upon the Shore of Life

"Like pebbles side by side
upon the sand,
together we’ve endured
the push and pull
of time’s relentless waves.

Still hand in hand, we stand,
where all is moveable, unmoved.

Unending love has made us one
against the toss and tow
of wind and sea.

Now smoothed and polished
by the rain and sun,
our separate lives
are shaped in unity…

You are still you in ways that
have not changed
since we were brought
together long ago.
I am still I.

And time that rearranged
our features
cannot dim the heart’s
deep glow:

We shine together
in this time and place,
each one the light
upon the other’s face.”

(author unknown)

You are truly my
Divine Embrace…

~

Dec. 29, 1978