How to describe a hayfield without sneezing?
Or portray the sunlight slanting through the barn
as more than dust motes aswarm?
Even the cat running the fence above the flowers
caused him significant problems.
Rilke’s allergy dominated his senses,
if not his poetry. Seldom discussed are his
"Ode to a Sodden Handkerchief" or
"Your Lips Are as Red as My Eyes, My Love."
And no one seems to care about his letters
to a young allergist, suffering though they may be.