Three Children and a Dog Playing in the Creek by Thomas Eakins, 1883
With all its eyes the animal world
beholds the Open. … Free from death.
Only we see death; the free animal has its demise
perpetually behind it and before it always
God, and when it moves, it moves into eternity,
the way brooks and running springs move.
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Eighth Duino Elegy
Photograph via The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Poem via Poemas del río Wang my new favorite blog. Highly recommend.