List Poem

Sense of Something Coming- Rainer Maria Rilke

I am like a flag in the center of open space.

I sense ahead the wind which is coming, and must live

it through.

while the things of the world still do not move:

the doors still close softly, and the chimneys are full

of silence,

the windows do not rattle yet, and the dust still lies down.



I already know the storm, and I am troubled as the sea.

I leap out, and fall back,

and throw myself out, and am absolutely alone

in the great storm.

I chose this poem because I feel Rainer Maria Rilke perfectly captures that feeling of an impending event. The poem has a palpable anxiety to it and any reader can relate to the feeling of knowing something is coming as well as the inability to prevent or prepare for whatever it is that may be on the horizon.