variation on a theme by rilke

a certain hour became a presence to me;

there it was, confronting me - a sky, air, light:
a being. and before it started to descend
from the height of noon, it leaned over
and struck my shoulder as if with
the flat of a sword, granting me
honor and a task. the day’s blow
rang out, metallic or it was i, a bell awakened,
and what i heard was my whole self
saying and singing what it knew: i can.

—denise levertov (via the poetry prescriptions of dr. sieghart)