With a roof and it’s shadow spins
For a little while the stock
From colourful horses, all from the country
That hesitates long, ire it perishes.
Though some are yoked to a carriage,
Still all have courage in their miens;
An angry red lion walks with them
And now and then a white elephant.

Even a deer is present, just like in the woods,
Only that he carries a saddle and above
A little blue girl buckled on.
And on the lion rides white a boy
And holds on with the small hot hand,
Meanwhile the lion shows teeth and tongue.

And now and then a white elephant.

And on the horses they pass by,
As well girls, bright, this vaulting
Nearly outgrown; in the midst of the swing
They look up, somewhere, across - .

And now and then a white elephant.

And this goes and hurries, that it ends,
And circles and spins only and has no destination.
A Red, a Green, a Grey sent past,
A little barely initiated profile - .
And sometimes a smile, turned fro,
A blessed one, that dazzles and lavishes
On this breathless, blind play…

His gaze has from the passing of the bars
Grown so weary that it holds nothing more.
To him, it is as if there were a thousand bars,
And beyond a thousand bars no world.

The soft gait of supple, powerful strides,
That in the very smallest circle turns,
Is like a dance of strength around a middle,
In which stands benumbed a mighty will.

Only sometimes the curtain of the pupil
Slides open soundlessly -. Then an image goes inside,
Goes through the limbs tense Stillness –
And in the heart ceases to exist.

Rainer Maria Rilke
The Panther
In the Jardin des Plantes, Paris

06-25-2007

To everyone awaiting a new chapter of 'Uchiha's Bane':

I am deeply, terribly sorry for the lack of updates and I want to reassure you that I am still working on the fic.

It seems my muse had taken an extended vacation and she has just recently returned. Sadly, she didn't bring me any souvenirs, but she did mention (repeatedly) that Maui is beautiful this time of year...

In her bag were however a load of plotbunnies, all of which are currently trying to invade my computer and my brain. There are at least five worth exploring and they are distracting me from concentrating on my current fic. But do not fear, I have already written about half of chapter 12 (about 13000 words) so far, the only problem is, I keep getting stumped along the way and I fear this one will by far be the longest chapter ever...

If any of you would be willing, I could seriously use someone to brainstorm about those plotbunnies though. So if anyone is interested in hearing about my ideas, giving me a little criticism and generally playing sounding board, please mail me! Thanks...