A Year with Rilke: Song of the Beggar

A Year with Rilke: Song of the Beggar
Excerpt:
You'll find me in all weathers beyond the gate,
un-sheltered from rain and sun.
Every so often I cradle my right ear
in my right hand.
Then my own voice sounds to me
as no one ever hears it.

Then I can't tell for certain
who is screaming:
me or someone else.
Poets cry out for more important matters.

At times I even close my eyes
so my face can disappear.
The way it lies with its full weight in my hands,
it is almost like rest.
Then no one can think I lack a place
to lay my head.
~Rilke, New Poems